Contributed by Lee Jingwei
Members from Zone Supervisor Darren Tan’s zone came together for the Zoe Conference at the Research University on Leadership at The Riverwalk. The theme for this year’s conference was “Resurrection” and it encouraged the youths to step out in faith and have their dead dreams and talents resurrected.
It consisted of two sessions and five workshops.
The morning session started with the conference’s theme song, ‘Eternity With You’, an original number written by zone member Ryan Wong. Following that, Andrew Tan also delivered a beautiful rendition of his song ‘Xin Li Wei Yi’. Darren Tan shared the principles of God’s creative life and encouraged the attendees to have faith and step out of their comfort zone.
In all, there were five different workshops, namely photography, song writing, dance, public speaking and shoe design and all of them were conducted by the members in the organizing committee.
Centered on active participation, attendees of the songwriting workshop wrote their own songs on the spot with help from the workshop coordinators, while fashion lovers had a go at designing their own shoes in the shoe design workshop. The photography workshop also sent budding photographers outdoors to practice the theories they learnt.
One of the most popular workshops was public speaking. “Public speaking is a lost art as Singaporeans often refrain to speak out,” said workshop coordinator Francis Yu. During the workshop, he spoke about the importance of mastering good speaking skills as they are not only applicable in the public realm, but also in personal relationships with others.
Those who took part in the event enjoyed the workshops tremendously.
“I have always been wary of painting, but through this workshop, I’ve discovered the joy of painting and am inspired to design more shoes,” said 19 year old Sheryne Seah who attended the shoe design workshop.
Participants were given ample opportunities to display their work and talents. Representatives from the song writing, dance and public speaking workshops were given a platform to showcase what they learnt during the night sessions. Selected photographs and shoes were also put on display.
PHOTOS: Angela Yong |
In addition to the workshop performances, the crowd was inspired by Jack Koh’s testimony during the night session. A singer and songwriter, Koh shared about his resurrected dreams after connecting back with God.
“Only with a resurrection, the cross has its full meaning,” said Tan to the crowd of youths. Before an awakened life begins, there must be a death of the old self. Tan likened our failures and lost dreams to the death we must go through before experiencing the power of resurrection. He encouraged everyone to stop defining ourselves by our own expectations, but by God’s because He wants us to possess a radically different nature.
The meeting ended with Tan praying for the people in the room. Many went forward to experience the touch of God and received new visions and dreams and many dead dreams were resurrected that night.