And Jesus said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ – Luke 19:17
PHOTO: New Life Church
On 15 September 2008, ministry and small group leaders in City Harvest Church were treated to a special screening of a documentary Rev. Kong Hee had put together on his recent trip to New Life Church, Taiwan.
This church has seen exceptional growth since its inception two years ago. From a couple of hundred members in the beginning, they are currently averaging at a weekly attendance of close to 1,750 members. Among those attending New Life Church are celebrities such as Liu Geng Hong, Real and Faye from F.I.R. and even legendary songstress, Cai Qin.
The documentary tracked a four-month long project undertaken by the members of New Life Church to reach out to high schools and junior colleges throughout Taipei. This project, known as The Rainbow Connection, drew students from all over to participate in short courses conducted by the church members. Some of the courses included cutting a CD, guitar lessons and musicality, drama, dance, fashion, makeup and grooming, and just about everything that is of interest to today’s youth. The Rainbow Connection ultimately led to the recording of a music video composed, choreographed and produced by the church’s members, in collaboration with celebrities and participants from the schools.
This proved to be extremely effective in presenting the church as a place of creativity, freedom and life. The new friends were given a chance to know more about the vision, goals and organization of the church as they were led around on a rather unique tour of the church premises which was set up like a maze with various stations and booths. At some stations, the students could participate in quizzes and games; at other stations, they were treated to grooming sessions and DVD screenings. There was even a small room filled with music and strobe lights — a holy dance club! Here, people could settle down at the tables and have a drink and enjoy the music. Nothing was spared to make the new friends feel comfortable and welcome in New Life Church.
It was an experience to see how the entire church rallied around one cause: to see lost souls saved for Jesus. Their excellent organization and execution of the entire project, coupled with months of hard work, prayer and preparation, paid off as hundreds of students gave their hearts to Jesus. On top of that, the church members, including the celebrities, experienced the joys of being committed to and serving the Kingdom of God.
After the documentary, Pastor Kong shared that New Life Church and their senior pastor, Rev. Abraham Ku had very little resources, but they used everything they could think of and came up with excellent creative ideas on how to win the lost. From the documentary, it was plain to see how the members of the church boldly engaged the marketplace and the celebrities. They shone as salt and light in the way they confidently carried themselves and in the way they took care of their appearance.
It was an inspiration for many of CHC’s leaders — they started to think about the resources that God has placed in their hands through their members. As Sharon Tan, cell group leader of E417 commented, “I had always thought that my efforts to reach out to the lost were restricted by my lack of resources. But seeing how the leadership in New Life Church really involved every single member in the church, I began to realize that I too have lots of resources available in the form of my members, if only I inspire every single member to be involved.”
Truly a little can become much in the Master’s Hands, if we can have the faith to believe and run with the Gospel, and carry out the Cultural Mandate.
