By Lim Shu Qing

CN PHOTOS: Daniel Poh.

For all the robustness in our local dining scene, it’s still not that easy to find quality, no-frills Western eats at affordable prices ie. from S$10. This is the gap Streets Of London looks to fill as it opened its doors at Bukit Merah last month.

Greeting every customer as he enters is a black-and-white poster of a street in London. A board near the entrance lists the most popular dishes, but attention is drawn to a wall where Post-It notes, filled with scribbles and squiggles by delighted patrons are beginning to cover up its whitewashed glory.

The menu is mostly Western, starting at S$4.80 for soups and salads. The appetizer section has unusual offerings such as Cheese-Melt Portabello Mushroom and Beer Bratwurst Sausage with Caramelised Onion.

The main dishes are priced from S$8 for pastas—choose your preferred noodle, sauce and topping. Thin-crust pizzas—Hawaiian, Tandoori Chicken and Margherita—go for S$10 each.

Our tasting kicked off with the Wild Mushroom Soup, which was flavorful and creamy but not overwhelmingly so, with diced bits of celery thrown in for balance of texture and flavor. The House Salad was served with mint dressing, which added a refreshing tang to the crispy greens. The Chicken Chimichangas that were served alongside were topped with a unique avocado ranch dressing. At that, you’ll be glad to know that Streets Of London prides itself on its made-from-scratch ingredients—no short-cut premixes or canned sauces.

A personal favorite among the main dishes was the Grilled Salmon (S$15), the distinctive flavor of which was retained by just-right doneness and enhanced by a garlic-based cream sauce. The Chix Chop (S$10), however, turned out to be the surprise highlight of the meal, with lovely charred notes coming through at first bite. The meat, drizzled in a white wine and mushroom sauce, was well-marinated and tender too. Other items on the menu are Fish & Chips, All-Day Breakfast, Baby-Back Ribs, Rack of Lamb and House Burger with Bacon Strips, all priced under S$20. The owners plan to add Mexican food to the menu soon.

Among the patrons that afternoon was Jimmy Tan, 38, there to celebrate his 12^th wedding anniversary with his wife, Wu Wei Lin, 37. Coincidentally, they spent their honeymoon in London years ago. Tan said, “The steaks are comparable to those in London.” His words proved true as we dove into our Striploin Steak (S$15), cooked a perfect medium rare and served with fresh seasonal vegetables on the side.

Behind Streets Of London is the duo Alex Wee and Chef Thomas Lam, whose vision for the restaurant is summed up in its slogan: “Streets of London strives to serve you good food at affordable prices. We love good food and fine beer. And we love great customers like you.” Yes, sud-sippers will be glad to know that beers like Erdinger and Hoegaarden available at the happy hour price of S$6 only until the end of May.

Streets Of London is located at Bukit Merah Central, a five-minute walk from City College, near the Bukit Merah Public Library just opposite Bukit Merah Central. Parking is available at a nearby three-storey carpark. Takeaway service is available. Lunch sets are at S$10, which includes one main dish, a soup of the day and a soft drink.

Blk 161 Bukit Merah Central,
#01-3725,
Singapore 150161
+65 6377 0850

By Joelle Pang

CN PHOTOS: Daniel Chong, Kenneth Lee, Michael Chan, Rosalyn Cheong and Tan Yun Ting.

The atmosphere at City Harvest Church was thick with fun and excitement on the weekend of May 12 and 13. Families of different generations had the chance to attend church together in the main services to celebrate Mothers’ Day on this special Family Weekend.

Before the main bilingual church services even started, Hall 603 at the Suntec Singapore was already bustling with activities. Excited churchgoers, young and old, were busy snapping photographs against the colorful balloon sculptures planted around the hall. Roaming mascots were the stars of the day as delighted children stopped every one of them in their way to take pictures with.

Inside the main church hall, emcees warmed the crowd with a few rounds of the “family edition” of Draw Something, the popular iPad app. The winning family on both days walked off with S$200 worth of Capitaland vouchers.

The energy level of the congregation continued to rise as four children took the stage to kick-start the service. Two boys in soccer jerseys declared to the crowd that they were soccer fans; the two girls in turn exclaimed with a cheeky smile that they were “Pastor Kong fans” drawing peals of cheers and laughter from the congregation. One of the boys, Dayan Kong, who is the son of Kong Hee, senior pastor of CHC, garnered the most laughs with his announcement that “Pastor Kong said that his preaching is going to be short today.”

On that note, the children introduced the boy band “Mama’s Boys”, comprising five young male members of the worship team. Mama’s Boys did an impressive acapella and beat-box rendition of “Happy Day”, a song made popular by the Whoopie Goldberg movie Sister Act. The song flowed into an exuberant time of praise with the Children’s Church band—plus the mascots—leading an action-filled song “Jesus You’re My Superhero”.

All For Mom

The rest of the service flowed in the theme of Mothers’ Day. As he gave the offering message, executive pastor, Aries Zulkarnain shared a “psalm” he wrote to fit the occasion, inspired by Psalm 23:

“My mom is my shepherd, I shall not want another

She makes me wake up from my green pastures every morning
She leads me to school despite my objection and sick excuses
She restores my soul
She leads me in her path of discipline so that righteousness is instilled for His name sake
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of childhood, teenhood and adulthood, I will fear no evil
For your scars are with me, your rotan and your spoon they comfort me
You always prepare a sumptuous table before me in front of the TV
You rub my head with oil, my love tank runneth over
Surely, good grandchildren and merciful in laws shall follow you all the days of your life
And I will dwell and come home weekly for dinner in your house forever. Amen!”

The house rocked with laughter.

The amusement continued with a drama performed by children from the Children’s Church. Set in a classroom during a show-and-tell session themed “A Gift for Mummy”, the young performers won the congregation over with poetry, magic tricks, song and dance, and even a rap for Mom!

The congregation was clearly touched by a little girl’s sincere performance of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, especially after she shared that her mother told her that rainbows are made up of all the hugs and kisses that she has given her. The drama ended beautifully with a heart-warming video showing different members of the congregation telling their mother’s life stories, and thanking them for their sacrificial love.

How Moms Reflect God

Kong’s message was a simple yet powerful sharing of seven amazing mothers in the Bible. Drawing stories of these Biblical heroines and the stories of modern female figures, Kong showed how God’s nature was reflected in each of them.

Eve, the first woman and first mother of mankind, suffered the grief of being banished from Paradise and the experiencing the murder of her son Abel at the hand of her firstborn, Cain. In spite of these tragedies, she fulfilled God’s plan of populating the earth, showing her descendants that God has a good purpose for our lives, and He will fulfill it against all odds.

Sarah, who as the wife of Abraham, was called to be the Mother of the nation of Israel. Yet she was barren all her life and had to wait till she was 90 years old before she could conceive. Her patience and faith is a shining example showing that God fulfills His promises despite our circumstances.

Rebekah, the mother of Esau and Jacob, was an assertive individual living in an age where women were typically submissive. Instead of rebelling or sitting around complaining of her situation, she boldly entered into God’s destiny for her, showing that a God who builds on the positive things in life.

Jochebed, the mother of Moses had given birth to her son during a time when mothers were forced to abort. God honored her faith by intervening in her situation–Moses was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and Jochebed became her own son’s nanny. God is a God of providence.

Hannah was bullied and cruelly taunted by her husband’s other wife because of her inability to conceive. But she never gave up on God; in her suffering, she turned to God in prayer. God moved when she vowed to give her child to God if He answered her prayers. She eventually gave birth to the great prophet Samuel and proved that God as a prayer-answering God.

Bathsheba’s husband was killed because David lusted after her. Soon after, their baby born out of that adultery died. But in the midst of all these shameful circumstances, Bathsheba experienced God’s persistent grace when her next son became the wisest king in the history of Israel, King Solomon.

Finally there is Mary, the mother of Jesus, who had a personal encounter with God, accepted His call for her life even though she knew it will cause her enormous shame and pain. She never doubted the will of God and as a result, she stood as one of those high favored by God.

Kong also paid a personal tribute to his wife, Sun, by comparing her sacrificial love and obedience to God’s will for her life to that of young Mary’s. In celebration of their mothers, Kong and Dayan presented a bouquet of flowers to Sun and to Kong’s mother.

This rare occasion when the whole family gets to attend the main church service together was a treasured time for many. Teresa Faith Tan, 38, a homemaker, shared that her daughters, Erana Belle, 7, and Gabriela Zane, 3, had been very excited the whole week knowing that they could attend service with their parents. Tan herself was also thankful for opportunity to attend service with her daughters in such a welcoming atmosphere.

Another family, Mario Singh, 35, a businessman, his wife, Shalyn Lee, 43, a homemaker, their daughter Chantelle, 3, and 7-month-old son Elliot also found attending service as a family very special. Singh shared, “It is an eye-opening experience. I was curious to find out how my children would react to being in the main service.”

Elijah Tan, 38, a network engineer, echoed the sentiments of many: “Attending the service with young children, and even babies, created a very fun and light-hearted atmosphere. It was also very heartwarming to see mothers and their children showing love towards each other, both onstage and offstage.”

By Annie Wong

Sharon Seow with her family, husband Chiang Kah Kee, Darren Chiang (from left, in white), 18, Amanda Chiang, 17, Lawrence Chiang, 18, Erica Chiang, 14, and Marcus Chiang, 16. PHOTO: Sharon Seow.

Children Over Career

Sharon Seow was working in the banking industry for about seven years before she made the decision to quit her job and focus on bringing up her children. Seow, 50, has five children aged 14, 16, 17, and a pair of 18-year-old twins. In Singapore, each family usually has one to two children.

Why made you and your husband want to have a bigger family?

My oldest two are twins. After we had the third child, I became a stay-home mother. And since I was staying at home, my hubby suggested that we have another child. The fifth one was a welcome surprise.

The people around us are usually amazed at how many children we have. As for our children, they always boast about how many siblings they have—they enjoy the look of surprise on their friends’ face when they tell them

So what made you decide to quit your job?  

My husband and I made the decision when I was pregnant for the second time. I didn’t think that it was right to have somebody else teach and impart values to my kids, especially at that young age.

How was it like adjusting to a new life as a stay-home mum? Did you miss work?

At first it was a bit uncomfortable, there was a bit of identity crisis but I was able to adjust quite fast. While the biggest change was knowing the fish prices at the market instead of the Forex prices, I didn’t feel like I was inferior because it was a choice I made. I also kept in touch with my ex-colleagues so I was not deprived of my own social connections.

So which is more challenging, working or taking care of the kids?

At work, because you’re always under somebody, you get scolded, but at home, I get to be the one scolding everybody else!

I think it’s more challenging to stay home because I have to input the right values into the children. When they were between ages 1 and 5, it was physically stressful taking care of them, making sure that they don’t fall or hurt themselves. After that, it became mentally stressful because they will push boundaries. Their education was a big source of stress for me.

How did you resolve the problem?

Thankfully my husband suggested we engage a tutor and that helped. We were quite blessed. One of the tutors was a Christian and prayed with my son every Monday morning. I think that helped. And one of my neighbors was from CHC, who invited my girl to church. After a while, I decided to join her so that my neighbor doesn’t have to bring her to church all the time. Since then, I became a Christian too, and learned to seek God in all my struggles. If I can’t turn things around, I will get to my knees and commit it into God’s hands.

What is one lesson you’ve learned through the years that you would like to share with other mothers?

Patience. Sometimes we mothers expect things to happen a certain way so much so that we do not know how to let go. The most important thing I learned is to just be there, let them know you love them, giving them the room to grow as you guide them along. A lot of it is trial and error!

I became a Christian when my twin boys were about 10 or 11. Sometimes I wish I knew Christ earlier because I was quite hard on my older children; I didn’t really know how to let go, and there was a point when things got pretty tense around the house. But then I’m reminded that God can restore all things, and that He is our hope, and He has good plans for us, so we should be anxious about nothing.

Another lesson: take time to exercise.

Claire Seetoh (second from left) with her family (clockwise), Charissa Tung, 14, Chernise Tung 3, Peter Tung, 42, Cherie Tung 11, and Cheryl Tung, 9. PHOTO: Claire Seetoh.

Claire Seetoh, 42, was a secretary before giving up her career to take care of her first child, now 14. A choir ministry member in church, her hands are full with another three children aged 11, 9 and 3, and no domestic help at home. But Seetoh has no regrets.

What motivated you to have more children than the average Singaporean family?  

My husband and I initially planned to have two but God blessed us with four. Sometimes, the shocked response from our friends and acquaintances can be discouraging but I constantly remind myself that it’s a natural response in Singapore.

With four children, how do you make sure you have time for all of them?

I keep telling myself to do my best. The youngest is still very clingy and requires my attention, so I tend to spend more time with her. Sometimes the other children get jealous but I will try to give them my attention, like give them a hug or talk to them.

How about time for yourself?

Honestly, I don’t get much. The lack of sleep and me-time sometimes gets to me. But I constantly remind myself that no matter what, I have to hang on, that my family needs me. Thankfully such struggles usually last for a short time, so once I’m over it, I’m fine.

What about your additional commitments? How do you ensure you have time for them?

It’s all about being prepared. I serve in the church choir ministry, and when I’m unable to attend the practices, the members will e-mail me the songs and I’ll practice on my own. But I always bring all my children to the pre-service meetings. As my older kids like to help out in Children’s Church, I leave them there to help the teachers set up the rooms. For my little girl, she will attend the practice with me until it’s time to put her at the nursery. Then I come back, prepared to sing for the service.

What is one difficulty you encounter as a mother?

When I have disagreements with my children. I have to remain calm and focus on the problem instead of the person, and reason with them. If I can, I will compromise. Peace is important at home.

How has the journey been so far?

Handling four at one time is difficult, but I thank God that I have learned to handle the challenges one after another. Whenever I struggle, I will constantly look to God for strength, constantly believing that He will give me strength daily. I always look forward to each new day and find joy in the little things that I do.

The Mother Who Wears Many Hats

Joyce Chan, 33, is the executive director of Teen Challenge, a voluntary welfare organization. She has four children, aged between 10 months and 8 years old, and believes in giving back everything that life has given to her, as an example to her children. 

What motivated you to have more children than the average Singaporean family?  

Both my husband and I were from families of three but we decided that four is a good number. Our families and friends were generally surprised but supportive.

What are the challenges that you face as a young mother of four and what do you do to overcome them?

My journey as a full-time working mother has not been easy, but God has been very clear to me for what He wants me to do. And He has never failed. I have a lot of juggling to do, but I learn to pace myself. I know my limits, how far I can be stretched, and how much to manage, so I just work within the boundaries.

I thank God that my elder son is able to help up at home, so when my husband travels overseas, he will help me watch the others, to make sure they don’t fall or do anything dangerous. I also have my parents, my in-laws, my sister and friends who will help should we need them. The support is always there.

How do you make sure you have time for all of them?

I make sure that I spend at least one to two hours of quality time for everyone individually, be it out for lunch, or at home during the night. As for Perez, my eldest, I will always talk to him when I drive him to and from school. We make it a point to spend the weekends together. As such, I get to keep in touch with my children even though I’m busy with work or my other commitments.

What are your additional commitments?

As a cell group leader and a grassroots leader as well, I’ve learned to prioritize my time. I’ll go for whatever is necessary. For example, I’ll try not to miss the cell group meetings. If I do, I’ll arrange for combined cell group. As for my members, I’ll always try to catch up with them here and there, like meet up for lunch. As for being a grassroots leader, I’ll usually be there for the planning and the meetings. If I’m not needed during the event, I’ll just not go.

How do you manage without a maid at home?

Many times I wonder as well! Frankly, I can only say it must be the grace of God. All my children go to childcare and infant care. But definitely, having a super-duper supportive and loving husband helps—we make a great team! Sometimes, when we need help, people around us are always supportive. Coupled with God’s strength and grace, all things become possible.

What compels you to take on so many roles?

Mainly, it’s my desire to make a difference in life. I believe that there is still so much I can contribute and I’m just giving what I can. I also believe that being a parent, nothing beats being an example myself. As I serve the Lord in the different roles, I hope that my children will grow up desiring to serve God in their lives.

By Eugene Teh

Lava (back row, second from right) with his teammates from Team 11. Writer Eugene Teh, in navy blue, is standing in the background. PHOTOS: SOT Team 11.

On the morning of Apr. 25, all of us in Team 11 got a shocking piece of news. One of our teammates, Lava—short for Lavendran—had been injured in a road accident the evening before.

When we visited him in the hospital after school that day, Lava recounted what had happened. He was riding his bicycle to meet a friend, when a taxi driver collided into him at a junction. He found himself flying and flipping over in the air and landing back-first on the windscreen of the taxi. Everything happened so fast, yet he could remember the most minute details in those few seconds.

The doctors told him that he had nine cracks on his spine and that he had torn the ligament on his left leg.

When Lava came back to school on Apr. 30, he was in a wheelchair. By doctor’s orders, he had to be in a wheelchair for at least a month. I tried my best to help him get around, and made the mistake of knocking my knee against his back once, producing a groan from him. *yikes*

And when he had to go up to the stage of the Jurong West auditorium for practice as a backup vocalist, he had to lean on me, limping slowly and painfully up the steps. “After the accident, I couldn’t move at all without being in pain. Even just one touch on my leg or my back hurt,” Lava said.

As I went about the day with him, I wondered how helpless he would be if no one could help him with the most mundane of tasks like going up steps or ascending ramps. In my heart, I was prepared to assist him in moving around for a month, and wondered what other measures I could take to help him.

May 3 was the fateful day I got to witness for myself the miraculous healing power of the Holy Spirit that we’ve so often heard and read about.

On that day, we were to learn about moving in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. For Lava, he came back to school with the expectation that he would be healed “although I just didn’t know when.”

Lava is all smiles as he stands beside his newly discarded wheelchair.

That morning, Pastor Choong Tsih Ming, our teacher for the day, led us in a time of prayer and worship. I knew at the back of my mind that there was a possibility he would pray for Lava’s healing. But as yet, I still had the concept of gradual healing. As we continued in worship, I felt the presence of God thicken and I knew the Holy Spirit was with us. I suddenly felt a strong conviction that Lava was going to be healed that very day. As Pastor Ming laid hands on Lava, he got out of his wheelchair and slowly limped around a little before the pain compelled him to sit down again. But I knew that the miracle had begun.

Pastor Ming remembers: “I was having quiet time before the lesson and a picture of Lava came to my mind and I had this impression that Lava will be healed. When I first prayed for him, I was thinking in my mind that it will be instantaneous, but when it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen, I thought perhaps it might be the wrong impression so I had Lava sat down again. However, when I was praying for other people, I felt the Holy Spirit telling me that miracles have to be worked. There has to be action in order for the miracle to happen. So I went back to Lava and started praying for him again, telling him to start working the miracle and walking up and down.”

Pastor Ming came back and prayed for Lava a second time, after which he fell under the power of God. When he got up, he moved around more. My conviction burned with every action he made with his left leg, which he could barely move just an hour ago. Soon, Lava was kicking with his left leg, stretching his back and torso.

Then I saw something that made me shout with exultation—Lava begin climbing up the very steps of the stage which he had to lean on me to ascend previously. Instead of the slow torturous limp he had to endure, he was now jogging up and down uninhibited and pain-free!

On Friday, 11 May, Lava went back to his doctor for a check-up. The doctor declared that everything was well. “I’m feeling fine and completely normal now. There is no more pain,” Lava said. He has been totally and completely healed. Hallelujah! Our God is an awesome God!

I’m extremely blessed to be able to experience and witness for myself the signs and wonders that God is still very much doing in our lives today. I believe, now more than ever, that everyone can have the same miraculous experience with God.

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!

周玲　报道

CN PHOTOS: Daniel Poh.

人终其一生，寻求快乐，平安，生命终极目标和意义，但却发现生命旅途中，不可避免许多问题，且最终可能发现，让自己花尽一生心血的，可能并非原先所求的。你是否思考过这些？你是否正在遭遇这样的生命问题？何玉峰长老的讲道，就向我们揭示了遭遇问题的原因，带着我们重新检视自己的生命，使我们思想得了翻转，也找到了解决的方法，且随何长老一同来寻求从上帝而来的答案——

你像摩西一样看待神交在你手中的工作吗？

出埃及记第3章 神召唤摩西去与法老谈判，带领以色列百姓出埃及。但摩西用一个又一个“担心”告诉神——“这份工作，我不行”。第11节，摩西说“我是什么人，竟能去见法老，将以色列人从埃及领出来呢？”，他认为自己只是名不见经传的小人物；第13节，摩西说“他们若问我说：‘他叫什么名字？’我要对他们说什么呢？”他担心自己对神不够认识，不够知识；第四章第1节摩西又说：“他们必不信我，也不听我的话，必说：‘耶和华并没有向你显现！’”他认为自己在以色列百姓面前没有足够的身份和声誉；第10节，摩西又说：“主啊，我素日不是能言的人，就是从你对仆人说话以后，也是这样，我本是拙口笨舌的。”他觉得自己没有口才……

想一想，你是否也像摩西一样，有时候觉得自己不够身份、知识、声誉和口才或能力？如果我们的灵性没有上帝深层的参与，我们就会对自己有不够正确的看法，影响我们不能够做正确的决定。事实上，摩西对自己的评价不一定是错的，我们每一个人也确实不是什么全能的人物，但是上帝却愿意陪伴我们一起出发。关键是，你要不要！就像第3章12节，神对摩西说：“我必与你同在”。我们的生命、工作、成就，就是从上帝同在那一刻开始，有了一个新的可能，有了一条新的路。第12节神继续说，“这就是我打发你去的证据”，“打发”就是“差遣”的意思，上帝可以差遣名不见经传的小人物，去做改变世界的大事。我们本身重不重要，不是最重要的，重要的是，上帝会向我们显现。因为，真正使我们成就大事，使别人器重我们的，不是我们自己，而是上帝，“谁造人的口呢？谁使人口哑、耳聋、目明、眼瞎呢？岂不是我耶和华吗？现在去吧！我必赐你口才，指教你所当说的话”，出埃及记第4章11节神如是说。

摩西的5个担心让我们看见，每一个人都会有类似的软弱，需要神在我们的软弱上坚固我们。诗篇90篇17节，“愿主我们　神的荣美归于我们身上。愿你坚立我们手所作的工；我们手所作的工，愿你坚立。” 我们所做的能不能成就，关键在于神是否坚立，我们的能力、外貌看似可以帮助我们完成所做的工，但如果没有神的坚立，又有什么用呢。将来到天堂，我们带着什么去见神呢？是带着工作的业绩去吗？神在乎吗？我们这一生在地上所做的一切，如果不是为了成为一个像神的人，荣耀地进入神的国，那么我们苦心经营再多东西，也不能为自己的生命添加一丁点儿的荣耀，风一吹就没有了。不要做虚空的事，要做属灵的人。所以“工作”的效用和目的，应该是让我们这个器皿，借着工作这个过程，被上帝炼净，顺服在上帝的手中。

你在劳碌和专业中虚空捕风吗？

传道书第4章4至8节，“我又见人为一切的劳碌和各样灵巧的工作就被邻舍嫉妒。这也是虚空，也是捕风。愚昧人抱着手，吃自己的肉；满了一把，得享安静，强如满了两把，劳碌捕风。”

在人看来，工作、劳碌与各样灵巧的专业本不就是为了钱财吗？但钱财却无法给予我们应该从上帝得到的满足感，“见日光之下有一件虚空的事：有人孤单无二，无子无兄，竟劳碌不息，眼目也不以钱财为足。他说：我劳劳碌碌，刻苦自己，不享福乐，到底是为谁呢？”（传道书4章8节）尤其当我们劳碌、专业到一个程度的时候，就可能像“愚昧人抱着手，吃自己的肉”，我们紧紧握住劳碌、专业得来的财富，不要、也无人要与我们分享，迷失了上帝创造财富的奇妙意义，也失去了与他人美好的关系，神看此为“满了两把，劳碌捕风”，“也是虚空，是极重的劳苦”，因为这就像马太福音16章26节耶稣所说，“人若赚得全世界，赔上自己的生命，有什么益处呢？人还能拿什么换生命呢？”

传道书第4章教导我们，“满了一把，得享安静”（第6节）、“二人劳碌同得美好的果效”（第9节），如果我们能够把劳碌专业得来而紧握两把之中的一把，给需要的人，与他们分享；如果我们不再专注于倚靠劳碌、专业得钱财，而是在创业的过程中奉献自己，与同伴分享，与他们建立美好的关系，更与上帝建立美好的关系，我们就能够得着“美好的果效”。这美好的果效，是因为给予、奉献、分享，才是神创造财富的最高目的，也只有给予、奉献和分享的时候，我们才能够得着最大的喜乐。如此，我们就不再是虚空和捕风，而是行在上帝的心意中，因为主应许：“你们这蒙我父赐福的，可来承受那创世以来为你们所预备的国。因为我饿了，你们给我吃；渴了，你们给我喝；我作客旅，你们留我住；我赤身露体，你们给我穿；我病了，你们看顾我；我在监里，你们来看我。……我实在告诉你们：这些事你们既作在我这弟兄中一个最小的身上，就是作在我身上了。”（马太福音25章34节）

你在忧愁吗？

约翰福音13章36节，西门彼得问耶稣说：“主往哪里去？”14章5节，多马说：“主啊，我们不知道你往哪里去，怎么知道那条路呢？”第8节腓力又说，“求主将父显给我们看，我们就知足了。

你是否与西门彼得一样，不知自己所爱的人要去哪里，想爱却不知该如何爱？你是否也像多马一样，在寻求生命的道路，却不知道要走哪条路、怎么走？你是否又和腓力一样，在寻求生命的意义和满足？

当这些问题活生生地出现又不见出路的时候，我们就不由自主地开始忧愁了，而且还会“专心”地忧愁。这世代，是一个忧愁的世代。但耶稣却告诉我们：“你们心里不要忧愁，你们信神，也当信我。”（约翰福音14章1节），因为他“就是道路、真理、生命”，若不借着耶稣，没有人能到父那里去。（约翰福音14章6节）

耶稣向我们揭示了他自己就是道路，跟随他，就可以去到天父那里。约翰福音14章9节，“人看见了我，就是看见了父。”你认识耶稣多少，就是认识了天父多少，认识了天父多少，你的忧愁就减去多少。你若知道耶稣就是真理，你的一生就有不会摇动的生命之锚，周围的任何人事物都无法影响你的喜乐和平安，因为你知道你的生命是交在上帝手中的。而上帝的生命是荣耀的，耶稣基督舍己的爱就是生命荣耀的根本。这道路我们要怎么跟随，这真理我们怎么来认识，这荣耀的生命我们又如何能拥有呢？我们要怎么“信而不忧愁呢？”

约翰福音14章1节耶稣说，“你们信神，也当信我”，第3节又说，“我在哪里，叫你们也在那里”，第7节，“你们若认识我，也就认识了父”，12节说，“我所做的事，信我的人也要做”，从这些主耶稣的话，你有没有发现，上帝应许我们能够与主有如此密切的关系！而这关系就要靠我们的信心把它联结起来，这信心就是，耶稣怎么说怎么做，我就凭借信心把他说的做的都联结到我们自己身上来，也跟随着耶稣来说来做，这就可治我们的忧愁。

所以，帮助一个人信主，才是真正关心他，因为只有跟随主、认识主、像主一样舍己，才能真正离开忧愁。

至此，何长老与我们讲了一个故事。有一智慧的拉比，一人对他说：“拉比，我觉得人生最有智慧的事就是在生命最后一天决志信主，享尽人生宴乐浮华，到死前一天，就认真地在上帝面前祷告，悔改信主，然后就搭着太空船直接上天堂了。这最有智慧了，是不是？”拉比说，对，但在这智慧之前，你必须有另一个更高的智慧，才能解决这个问题。信徒问：“什么智慧？”拉比说，你必须知道哪一天是你生命的最后一天，这需要很高的智慧。信徒说，那么拉比，你知道哪一天是我的最后一天？拉比说，我不知道，但如果是今天，那你今天信主就最保险了。今天信主最有福！

人都会死，但死了以后去哪里，这件事重不重要？如果你不知道答案，你会不会忧愁？一位虔诚信耶稣的老妇人即将死去，临死前她向子女交待了所有后事，包括葬在哪里，追思礼拜唱什么歌，谁做什么。你会不会想？只有在主里有平安的人，才能喜乐地想身后事，不会为它忧愁。

结语

马太福音11章28至30节，耶稣说，“凡劳苦担重担的人，可以到我这里来，我就使你们得安息。我心里柔和谦卑，你们当负我的轭，学我的样式，这样，你们心里就必得享安息。因为我的轭是容易的，我的担子是轻省的。”“我就使你们得安息”的意思就是“我给你们安息”。安息，在耶稣手中。你若心里没有得享安息，不是因为担子太重，而是担错了担子。耶稣要给你换一个真正合适你担的担子，那就是耶稣的担子，就是要学耶稣的样式，耶稣的教导，耶稣的话语，耶稣的生命。不是去别的地方，也不是去想各式各样放松的办法，而是把耶稣的教导话语来当做一生追求，来指引自己，“这样，你们心里就得安息”。

如果你的生命正在遭遇这里所探讨的问题，这正是上帝要你到他这里来，要你重新检视你到底在负什么轭，要你重新换个方式来领受耶稣教导的时候。人领受神，靠的不是自己的聪明通达，而是像孩子一样单纯的心。（马太福音第10章25节 天父将这些事向聪明通达人就藏起来，向婴孩就显出来。）所以让我们来做这个决定，不要再继续背负我们不该背的担子，别再自己来设计要成为一个怎样的人，而是来学习主耶稣的教导、样式，跟随他的道路，我们就可得着真正的道路、真理和生命，内心也可进入神所要我们得享的平安和喜乐。

By Lee Wei Fang

CN PHOTOS: Jason Lee.

On the weekend of May 5 and 6, City Harvest Church had the honor of studying the Word of God with Dr. AR Bernard, the founder and CEO of the thriving Christian Cultural Center (CCC) in New York City. Bernard, a friend of CHC for 14 years, who also serves as its Advisory Chairman, holds an impressive number of titles for his exemplary work in politics, society and the church world. The latest of these accolades is being named one of “The Powers Of New York” by the New York Times on May 5, 2012.

At the Saturday service, Bernard started a vein of teaching that built on a powerful revelation: true rest in God begins by knowing Him. The preacher unpacked the Word of God to reveal powerful truths that would bring many into a new level of rest.

Bernard, who had been a Christian for nearly 40 years, declared, “The more I know about God, the more I find rest in my life. This rest is not entirely because of my faith, but it is rooted in what I know about God.”

Imago Dei

Preaching out of Genesis 1:26-27 and Matthew 11:29-30, Bernard shared how God has purposefully and carefully designed man with His own hands, to be compatible with Him. Man was created in the “Imago Dei”, or in the “Image of God”. The reason why God chose to make man in His image was for an objective—fellowship. When God breathed into Adam, He breathed several communicable attributes of His own, into man’s nature.

Six communicable attributes that God shares with man are:

1. Reason – the power to think and understand, and form judgments.
2. Creativity – the ability to come up with, or imagine new things. It also means the ability to give new meaning to something old.
3. Speech – the ability to express our inner thoughts, feelings and perceptions.
4. Self-awareness – an awareness of our individual, unique identity.
5. Self-determination – the ability to make choices, and to choose our own identity.
6. Self-transcendence – the ability to transcend time, by visiting the past in our mind, analyzing the present, and transporting ourselves into a possible future via our imagination.

Jesus’s Yoke

“God was fitting man for relationship with Himself!” Bernard pointed out. In Matt. 11, Jesus talks about a “yoke” that Christians should take upon themselves. A yoke is a wooden support, a structure laid across the shoulders of two oxen with the intent of bringing their strength together.

Bernard explained, “What makes a yoke so special is that it has to be individually fitted for each animal for it to function properly. Otherwise the yoke would feel burdensome rather than light.” Hence, every pair of oxen would have a unique yoke.

Bernard than went on to present a powerful revelation of a believer’s yoke, which is symbolic of a close relationship with the Lord. “When Jesus calls for you to ‘take My yoke upon you’, He is talking about a putting on a yoke, that He has created specially to fit you.”  Jesus takes into consideration everything about us—including our personality, experiences, knowledge and learning styles—and creates a yoke that fits perfectly.

“The Lord is able to fit us for the service He calls us to. He will never call you to do something you are not fitted for!” said Bernard. “Hence, you can freely go to new places and do new things, knowing that God has fitted you to fulfill your calling.”

Too often, believers fall into the trap of wanting to wear someone else’s yoke because it looks more glamorous and powerful. However, this is erroneous thinking, because God has a perfect purpose for every unique individual. All that is required is to discover that purpose, and fulfill it together with Jesus by taking on His perfect yoke.

This Present Age

On May 6, Bernard continued to unpack God’s Word, exhorting the people to live a life “worthy of your calling” during this present age, which would cumulate at the Second Coming of Christ.

An age, or aion, is a period of time in history marked by notable events and particular characteristics. Bernard explained the relevance to our times: “One of the characteristics of this present age, before Christ’s return, is an experience known as apostasy, which means ‘a departure from’ certain core beliefs, and in this case, specifically means a departure from core beliefs of Christianity.”

Teaching from 2 Pet. 2-3, Bernard pointed out some key indicators that are the characteristics of the closing age leading to Christ’s return.

Indicators Of The End Of The Age 

1. People denying the atoning work of Christ on the cross. (Even so-called Christians)
2. People denying the deity of Christ.
3. People denying the authority of the Word of God – robbing Christ of His value and power in our lives.
4. Departure from moral responsibility – moving away from moral standards and practicing “situational ethics”.
   1. Mass departure from moral standards as expressed by popular culture. Eg. Popular culture denotes premarital sex is acceptable, whereas the truth is contrary.
   2. Abuse of present period, which is about the grace of God.

From John 8:2-11, Bernard taught the familiar story of the woman caught in adultery, focusing on Jesus’s subsequent response. Apart from giving the woman protection, dignity, forgiveness and release from condemnation, Jesus did something against the grain of popular culture: He made a demand on her life.

Jesus calls every believer to walk “worthy of your calling”. It means to live life with qualities of character and lifestyle that deserve respect, honor, and recognition as a redeemed child of God. When a Christian walks in such a lifestyle, people begin to open up to his or her influence. It takes a certain degree of sacrifice and discipline, but the rewards are tremendous.

“There is immense power in the life of a Christian who walks worthy of the calling on their lives,” said Bernard. “Even those who are struggling draw strength from observing the lives of the upright.”

He continued, “The key to building a strong walk is based on one word—gratitude! We choose to walk worthy because we are grateful to God for all He has done for us. Our lives should be one big ‘Thank You’ to God.”

Truly, as one begins to understand how God lovingly designed man into Imago Dei, endowing us with special attributes to fellowship with Him, and how Jesus has created a fitted yoke to help every Christian to walk worthy of His calling, true rest and joy in God is found.

By Ng Jiaqi

(From left) Abigail Yeo, Zann Foo and Teo Siang Joo dazzle the crowd. PHOTOS: Andrew Yeo.

“Your stage. Your moment.”

This tagline of Impresario 2012 reflects the experience three teenage girls had when they made a last minute decision to take part in Impresario 2012.

A long-running talent search competition organized by the Cultural Activities Club of Nanyang Technological University, Impresario is in its 20^th year this year. Offering diverse categories and a platform for anyone who dreams of taking the stage by storm—be it through singing, dancing or song-writing—Impresario also dazzles with its rewards: up to S$10,000 in cash and prizes were up for grabs.

For good friends Abigail Yeo, Zann Foo and Teo Siang Joo, all 16, Impresario 2012 was a chance for them to showcase their talent. Egged on by teachers and friends, the girls only decided to participate the week the competition was held. Yet, they emerged the big winner of the night on Mar. 18 at NTU, with Yeo crowned Champion in the Vocal Solo category while their group “豆芽” won first runner-up in the Vocal Duet/Group category.

The three girls, who bonded over singing classes, would often gather to sing for fun. When asked to describe each other, the three secondary school friends burst out in youthful laughter and started teasing one another in a manner only good friends do. Yeo is the resident diva, the “ring-leader” who likes Chinese singer Ah Mei.

Pyjama party performance inspired by Bruno Mars’ “Lazy Song”.

Foo is the “smallest of the group”, loves the ’60s and, like most teenagers now, is a fan of K-pop.

Despite her denying it, Teo has been acknowledged as the pretty face who gets the most attention wherever they go. She is also nicknamed “the radio” for her eclectic taste in music, and for her knowledge about music—she has the ability to name almost every song that is being played.

Given their last minute decision to enter the competition, the girls did not waste the time they had to prepare. They prepared a medley of songs with a storyline, starting out by dressing in pyjamas for “The Lazy Song” by Bruno Mars, acting out a love relationship for “You Belong With Me” by Taylor Swift, acting out a break-up for “Someone Like You” by Adele and ended with Katy Perry’s teen power anthem, “Firework”.

Taking care to showcase each member’s vocal abilities while giving ample opportunity to shine as a group, the trio’s performance left both the judges and audiences impressed. Yeo also won in the solo category singing “煎熬” by Li Jia Wei.

The talented ones cited their choir instructor as their inspiration and remained grounded even after their victory. At the moment, they have no other aspiration other than to focus on their ‘O’ Levels examination this year. One thing is for sure, bigger things are in store for these girls.

By Bernie Guan

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHARON WEE.

What began as one daughter’s posterity project became a beautiful tribute to her mother.

At the start of 2001, Sharon Wee, a Singaporean Peranakan pursuing her master degree in business administration in New York began a book project to put together her mother’s Nonya recipes. Not long she began, her mother fell ill and Wee flew home immediately. Tragically, three months later, her mother, Polly Wee, passed away.

The loss of her beloved mother spurred Wee on in her quest to pull together her mother’s treasured heirloom recipes. Her efforts intensified when she enlisted the help of her sisters to make sense of the cooking techniques that went into each complicated dish.

However, life caught up with her. The birth of her second child and the many commitments that came with raising a young family overseas with her American-born Chinese husband saw her book-writing project take a back seat. But in spite of the challenges of parenthood, Wee remained committed to the goal.

From converting her mother’s handwritten recipes, to learning to use different herbs, spices and condiments in her replication of those recipes, every aspect of creating this book was based upon her memory of her mother and her Baba-Nonya heritage.

What began as a collection of recipes evolved into a memoir about Wee’s mother. The author revealed that her mother “was a stereotype of her generation who was match-made and married off at 17. She also often felt tied down with having to look after six children and later on, her grandchildren.”

Despite the fact Polly Wee was not proficient in reading and writing, she “remained brave about those shortcomings as the world advanced around her,” writes Wee. Perhaps as she drew strength from within, she became a dedicated housewife who centered her life around her family and excelled in the activities that helped her in raising her family well: cooking, sewing, housekeeping.

The fruit of Wee’s decade-long project is a beautifully designed and illustrated hardcover cookbook, complete with a dust cover. Wee says there are many recipes in the book that she associates with her mother, especially those that made it to the dining table during Chinese New Year celebrations and Sunday family meals. “The ones that I cherish most of all are the ones that only she could do best,” declares Wee. No matter how hard Wee or her sisters tried – as even as they succeeded—there were still recipes that they could not fully replicate with exactly the same results, and these included kueh chang, kueh lapis spekkoek, kueh bongkong, kueh lapis and ang ku kueh. Wee realizes that these were “her mother’s handiwork”, flavored with “her special touch that made them uniquely her own.”

Wee’s biggest challenge compiling the book came from the different types of measurements her mother used to use. Precise measurements are vital to successful cooking and baking, and the task of converting measurements from katis and tahils to grams and tablespoonfuls proved tricky. There were even instances when her mother had written measurements such as “20 cents raw bread”, “1 coconut”, “1 bowl water”! It became even more challenging when these measurements were applied to cakes and kuehs where proper measurement critical—nobody wants to eat an overly-starchy kueh!

Wee’s values in life today are largely the result of learning alongside her mother in her early years. She remembers her mother as a loving, caring mother, but there were times when she was “spanked for being naughty”, and other times when she was “slow in helping out in the kitchen”. Despite growing up pains, Wee never felt pressured by her mother “to reach very ambitious goals like becoming a doctor”; instead “she would only hope for the best that we would be.”

“My mother was not a Tiger Mom,” wrote Wee, “but someone who instilled in us the values of hard work, respect for others, gratefulness.” And theirs being a Christian household, Wee remembers her mother also pressed home the importance of commitment required of a Christian.

It was only over time that Wee realized that “the positive values and decorum passed down by a Peranakan parent were intrinsically the most precious qualities to pass down and preserve for generations to come.”

Today, even though she lives in the US with her family, Wee is heartened that her daughter “absolutely delights in wearing her sarong kebaya, and loves kueh chang and even calls medicine obat.”

Growing Up In A Nonya Kitchen comprises an impressive collection of heirloom recipes interwoven with a wealth of Peranakan history and personal anecdotes drawn from Wee’s memories of her loving mother, the most striking of which is Polly Wee’s child-like faith in God and her unwavering trust in the Lord right to the end.

Growing up in a Nonya Kitchen is available at Kinokuniya at S$44.94. 

Visit Sharon Wee’s blog www.memoriesofanonyakitchen.com.

By Yong Yung Shin

CN PHOTOS: Alvin Loh, Daniel Chong, Daniel Poh and Michael Chan.

The weekend of Apr. 28 to 29 held special meaning for City Harvest Church, as it held a 10th year anniversary celebration of the Crossover Project. The Crossover Project was an extension of CHC’s mandate to build a church without walls—to bring the Gospel to the unchurched across society, and this included the world of entertainment.

HOW IT ALL BEGUN

In 1999, Kong Hee was invited to speak in Taiwan for the first time. There, he found out that in the youth ministry in local churches was almost non-existent. It was during this trip that the Holy Spirit dropped a word into his heart and said, “Kong, I want you to bring a revival to Taiwan, and I will use this revival to touch the entire Chinese-speaking world.”

Kong kept what the Holy Spirit had said to him at the back of his mind. The following year, he went back to Taiwan to minister at the Bread Of Life Church in Taipei. This time, he brought along his wife, Sun, who led worship in CHC. Over the next few days, a powerful typhoon swept the city. But to their surprise, many young people, most of them un-churched, came to the church night after night, not to listen to the preaching but to watch Sun leading praise and worship. They loved her colored hair, her pop culture look, and they loved the pop songs she sang in between the worship songs.

It was then that they realized that pop music could be a powerful bridge to communicate the love of God to the youth. What if they could repackage the message of faith, hope and love of Jesus Christ and bring it into the schools, the boardrooms and the bedrooms of the unchurched? At that time, it was unheard of for those in the Christian world to share the Gospel through the secular entertainment platform.

Apprehensive and more than a little doubtful, Kong needed confirmation from God that what was beginning to take form in his mind was a God-idea. God gave him not one confirmation, but four.

On Sep. 11, 2001, the day of the tragic 9/11 suicide attacks on the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City, Kong and Sun were in the city to minister to a friend on the verge of suicide. As the tragedy took place, God spoke to Kong: “From today, the world has changed. I brought you here to watch history unfolding. Go back to Asia and bring the Gospel to your generation—the young people and the urban professionals.” That was the first confirmation.

In obedience to that word, the couple went to Hong Kong soon after to participate in a prayer walk. As they were walking along the busy streets of Kowloon, they passed by an electronics shop that had a display of television sets near the entrance. On the screens of the televisions, thousands of young people were dancing to the beat of a secular pop-rock group from mainland China. There and then, the presence of God fell on them. Kong recalled, “God spoke very, very clearly to our hearts. ‘Sun, you will do better than this. I will send you to sing before millions of people and you will lead them to Jesus Christ.’” That was the second confirmation.

One night, Sun was leading worship at church, when a visitor, touched by her singing, approached her after the meeting and offered her a full professional contract. He was the managing director of Decca Music, an international recording label. This was confirmation number three.

It was all good, but Kong needed a Scriptural confirmation. When his respected mentors Ulk Ekman, AR Bernard and Phil Pringle gave the same verse from Mark 4:35, “Let us cross over to the other side,” Kong knew there was no more space for hesitation, and the Crossover Project was born.

SETTING SAIL

In 2002, Sun recorded her first Chinese pop album, Sun With Love. She held her first pop concert in the biggest indoor arena in downtown Taipei, the National Taipei Sports Complex. The team worked with a small Taipei church, New Life Church, which had about 200 members then. “Nobody was sure if anybody was even going to turn up,” said Kong. On the first night, the 4,200-seater stadium was jam-packed, with thousands more watching on big screen projectors outside. It was estimated that 80 percent of the audience had never been to church.

After Sun finished singing, she gave her testimony about the abuse she endured in her childhood and how Jesus saved her from her years of depression and brokenness. “The love and presence of God hit the entire arena; practically everybody was crying.” Kong then gave a simple altar call, and thousands upon thousands responded. “We didn’t expect that at all. When we went back to our rooms, we were wondering what exactly happened. We were in a daze.” Over the next two days, a total of 21,500 people attended the concerts, and 8,000 decision slips for Christ were collected.

Sun performed in various other cities, including Taoyuan, Hualien and Tainan—it was here that one of CHC’s affiliate churches, Rhema Harvest Church was birthed. In Kaohsiung, on the eve of a concert, a typhoon was raging, but 700 people still came, and 560 responded to the altar call. In the small town of Jia Yi, Sun performed at a high school to about 1,100 students. One of the students, a teenage girl named Christina Yu, testified of the miraculous work of deliverance from depression God did in her heart as she listened to Sun sing.

Today, Yu pastors 400 members at New Life Church, among whom are three pop stars who flew in for a special performance during the service— Chen Weiquan, Wing Luo and Huang Mei Zhen. It was a pleasant surprise for the congregation, as they listened to the trio cover some of Sun’s songs in addition to their own hits.

As for that little church, New Life Church, which helped put together the very first concert, it experienced a great revival too. From 30 people, the congregation grew to 1,250 in three years, and today, counts Universal music producer Chen Ailing, Taiwan’s “Simon Cowell” Huang Kuo Lun and the trio from F.I.R among its members. Each is a testament to the seeds of the Cultural Mandate Ho’s concerts had planted. To date, Taiwan’s Christian population has more than doubled, from a mere three percent to 10 percent in 10 years.

From Taiwan, Sun flew to Hong Kong and performed at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium to 10,500 people over three nights, and yet again, thousands gave their hearts to Jesus. One of the most dramatic salvation stories belongs to Teddy, the notorious leader of a gang and owner one of the largest nightclubs in the city. He also had dealings in illegal gambling, drug trafficking and prostitution. Kong recalled that Teddy’s parang-wielding henchmen were all waiting outside, ready to pounce in to protect their boss. But at the end, Teddy came forward and gave his heart to Jesus Christ.

It was not until two months ago that Kong met Teddy again while preaching at a service in Jakarta. It was a joyful, tearful reunion for the two men, as Kong prayed over Teddy, now a businessman travelling all over Asia to share his testimony.

Sun also performed in Malaysia, including Sibu and Kuching. Out of her performances there, Kuching Harvest Church was born. In Kuala Lumpur, her concerts in 2003 sparked a revival in City Harvest Church Kuala Lumpur. Today, CHCKL is one of the fastest-growing and most vibrant churches in Malaysia.

In Indonesia, in the cities of Jakarta, Makasar, Medan, the response was equally tremendous—people actually broke down the doors and pushed their way into the concerts. Even the security guards who were sent to protect the team responded to the altar call themselves.

Back in Singapore, Sun performed 14 times over one weekend at the church’s premises at Jurong West. Over two days, 30,700 people came, and 10,140 salvation decisions were recorded. It was the second highest salvation decision in Singapore church history, the highest being a rally at the National Stadium in 1978 when evangelist Billy Graham gave an altar call.

One person irrevocably changed by Sun’s concert was Cynthia Chua, who came from an unhappy family where arguments and violence were the norm. She gradually slipped into depression and even entertained thoughts of suicide, but it was at Ho’s concert that the love and presence of God touched her heart and she found the strength to get out of her depression. Chua is now a full-time church staff, with hundreds of youth under her care and guidance.

Another life that was changed was that of Sun’s choreographer, Ryan Tan, a well-known and highly respected Singaporean choreographer who responded to the altar call, after performing with her in about 70 concerts. Together with Kenny Low, then also a dancer in Sun’s entourage, they started O School in 2006.

More than a performing arts center teaching dance, O School is a social enterprise that seeks to provide stable employment opportunities for youth who are gifted in dance, to celebrate their potential and talents, and to generate funds for low income Singapore youths to complete their secondary school education at City College, also founded by Low. “We believe there’s a place for artists—when they’re placed on the right platform, who knows how God can use them?” said Low, who was named Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2007. With a current membership of 11,000, there are 100 dancers on staff, and every year, S$40,000 goes toward the education fund.

“We find that as young people come together to work with us, the same anointing that flowed in the Crossover Project flows in O School. The young people find acceptance here, and when they dance, they feel a release from their depression,” said Low. But it gets better—these youth are using their talents to reach out to their counterparts. When the 2011 tsunami hit Japan, they organized a Dance For Japan fundraising event and rallied 2,000 youth to the cause.

THE BIG LEAP

Twenty-five months after the Crossover Project was launched, Sun had performed more than 100 concerts to about half a million people, and out of that, almost 140,000 gave their hearts to Christ. The Crossover Project sought to achieve two purposes: reach out to the unchurched—those who would never step into a church, those who grew up on a musical diet of Beyonce, Gwen Stefani, Pink and Lady Gaga. Secondly, it aimed to encourage Christians who are already in the entertainment industry to step out with their faith.

But it was no walk in the park. With this calling also came many challenges. In every country Sun and her team traveled to, they faced demonic attacks, near-death encounters and media backlash against Sun’s contradictory image as the pop star wife of a pastor.

Over the next few years, Sun released four more Chinese albums. Ironically, it was the most criticized song on the Sun*day album, “Miss Catastrophe”, that caught the attention of the former general manager of MTV in the US. This paved the way for Sun to enter the American market. In 2003, she became the first Asian pop icon to be invited to sing at the Hollywood Film Festival. Subsequently, she was also the first Chinese singer to be invited to the 46th Annual Grammy Awards in 2004 as well as the MTV Europe Awards in 2007.

Her debut American single, “Where Did Love Go”, produced by David Foster and Peter Rafelson, was the number one breakout hit on the Christmas week in 2003—“God’s Christmas gift for us,” said Kong. After her first Billboard dance chart number one hit “One With You”, Sun went on to score another four number ones on the Billboard dance chart, the last of which was 2009’s “Fancy Free”.

“With success in both the USA and the Far East, we crossed over to China, which was our greatest desire,” explained Kong. Sun and her team went to Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Szechuan and other cities. Her humanitarian team was part of the 2005 Tsunami Disaster Relief Operations, and with her royalties from album sales and the contribution of friends, she built schools and medical clinics in Indonesia and China as well as orphanages in Sri Lanka.

In 2002, Sun was presented The Outstanding Young Person Award by the Junior Chamber of Singapore for her humanitarian works. She was also awarded the “Outstanding Young Person of the World Award” in 2003. That same year, she became the first celebrity outside of China to be honored with a First-Day Cover Stamp series in light of her humanitarian contributions to China. “Her success is our success because this is our project,” declared Kong.

In May 2004, on the last night of her concert in Australia, Sun discovered she was pregnant. After a difficult nine months, a son, Dayan, was born. Sun, along with her family and the church, had reached a crossroad—should they continue with the Crossover Project now that she is a mother?

After all, it had brought tremendous growth to the church. In four years, CHC had grown from a congregational size of 10,300 to more than 18,000; it now had 24 affiliate churches. For six months, the couple prayed and discussed with the pastors and senior staff and consulted with spiritual mentors from around the world.

Finally, it was a word given by Phil Pringle to Sun privately in May 2005 that gave them clarity to their path. “He said, ‘Five more years, because God is going to open a big door for CHC in China to be a blessing to the people.’ That word gave us the courage, faith and confirmation to resume the Crossover Project,” said Kong. (True enough, it was in May 2010—five years later—that Sun broke her US contract and flew home when the investigations into CHC began.)

The year 2007 was when CHC’s vision for China really took off. Sun was named the Charity Ambassador of Love for Asia’s first Special Olympic World Summer Games. The following year, she was selected to be the Music Ambassador for the 2008 Beijing Olympics Songfest. “These assignments were to open a huge door for us to do humanitarian works on a global level,” said Kong.

Presently, CHC has 96 humanitarian projects under its belt, from water sanitation projects to medical centers, children’s hospitals, schools, orphanages and women’s shelters—many of which are in China.

In closing, Kong read from Mark 4:34-36 and posed three questions to those who want to “cross over”. First of all, what will we forsake? Are we willing to leave our comfort zone? “Spiritual greatness will cost you something. Often, it will cost you everything,” said Kong.

Next, what will we take? Will we take Jesus as He is with us? “Sometimes, Jesus sleeps so that we have to awaken our faith to keep walking and trusting,” Kong explained. Finally, what impact will we make? Would we rather play safe and cruise through life, or give our all to walk in the fullness of God’s plans for our lives and those He wants to touch through us?

The three-hour-long service presented the full story of the Crossover Project to many in the congregation, many of whom had not previously understood its scale, scope and perhaps even its legitimacy as God’s assignment, but had chosen to trust in the leadership of the church.

Looking back at the hundreds of thousands of people who have been ushered into the saving grace of Jesus Christ through this project, it is clear that it has all been worthwhile. Kong was joined on stage by Sun and various others who had played a key role in the success of the Crossover Project such as executive pastor Tan Ye Peng. The journey turned out to be much more difficult than they had imagined, but there were no regrets over the no-holds-barred obedience Kong and Sun had chosen and the fruit their efforts had borne.