After weeks of speculation and theorizing as to where the location of the new church building is, the answer was finally flashed in front of our very eyes…

We are shifting in March 2011 to…

SUNTEC CITY CONVENTION CENTRE

With emotions ranging from shock,  surprise, joy to euphoria…we are definitely excited about being part of history.

Who would have thought that a simple church that I joined in the Geylang Area would one day be named as Co-owners of an Iconic Convention Centre in Downtown Singapore.

The magnitude of the dream is astounding, and the delivery of the dream only shows that…

 With God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!

As we watched the video presentation of the location in the service, the breakthrough and size of the breakthrough, slowly “sunk” into our hearts.

(For detailed FAQs about the church location, click here)

When the call was given to Arise and Build, the whole congregation gave a resounding “Yes” and we took a step of conviction onto a highway of uncertainty.

As we filled our Building Fund pledge cards, my family gave with tears in our eyes, but we are glad that we are sowing into something eternal and putting substance into our faith.

In closing, there may be many ways to build a church. There is the Cell Group System, the G12 system, decentralized churches, Weekday Bible Study classes…the list goes on and on…But I believe that they most important thing is that we stay faithful and focused on the dream that God has given us. All we need to do is to ONLY BELIEVE!

Suntec City – Here we Come!

The church has been in negotiations for a new building, and this week the location will be announced!

Pastor Kong Hee has been talking about a Church in the Marketplace and in the CBD for a long time, and finally it is coming to past. He has also updated his blog and given the reasons for the New $310 Million facility.

(Check out his  blog and the reasons here)

Personally, we are really excited, and our 6 weeks of speculation is coming to an end.

The Speculative Locations  are:

1) Marina Bay Golf Course – I hear that a lot of golfers are praying very hard against it, as they don’t want to lose a decent golf course.

2) Marina Bay Sands Casino

Btw, Sands got this piece of land at 1.2 billion dollars from the government. Will they let us have a part of it for $310 million?

3) National Stadium

The stadium is slated to be redeveloped into a new Sports Hub, but due to the financial crisis, the developers have sort of given up on the project, due to the high construction cost.

Will City Harvest be given a National Project to redevelop?

4) Padang

This iconic field has been the host of National Day Parades, Numerous Sports Events, and this is also where the British accepted the Japanese Surrender in 1945.

The Rumour is that we will develop the field, and have a auditorium was a glass ceiling, so that when the congregation looks up, they can see the stars!

Where do u guys feel the building will be at? Anything stories that are really mind-boggling?!? Do Share…

Well, for the rest of us, we are waiting for twitter to give us the location, when the 1st service kicks off in Jurong West in 24 hours time…

It’s coming soon….(excited anticipation!)

There were about 50 undergraduates and school-leavers who attended the workshop and we were literally blown away by what we learnt!

We had an awesome cast of facilitators who took time off from their very busy schedules to conduct the workshop.

We had members of the Insead MBA alumni, Professionals from the Banking & Law industries, and Recruiters that conduct such career talks at universities.

Definitely a real Power-Packed Lineup!

Apart from learning the basics of writing a Resume, we had a breakout session with the facilitators when resumes were critiqued and scrutinised.

This was where we managed to get up close and personal with the facilitators and many of the youths got their resumes “looked at!”

A fruitful Q & A session was next:

We learnt how important it was to plan!

The facilitators were successful in their professions because they started planning and charting the careers when they were in their JCs and their Polytechnics.

We found that they went for intern jobs during their school breaks and that they “cold-called”  to be an intern in the MNCs of their choice….

(honestly, I wished someone taught me all this when I was in Uni! Many of them deliberately took the low-paying intern job rather than the $10/hr job temp job. This was so that they could try out the career of their choice, and also to get insider information about these MNCs! Talk about Strategic! )

At the end of the day, the youths left with many of their questions answered and ready to apply for jobs which required zero to 3 years of experience!

Well, it was a really very good and insightful time. I’m so excited there would be Round 2 for the working adults on 6 Feb!

"City Harvest Church has announced a $310 million expansion plan to buy land, and to erect a building that will house shops, restaurants and a 12,000-seat auditorium.

Founder Kong Hee, 45, said during church services yesterday and last Saturday that the land sale would be completed later this month. He did not specify the location, but said the site would be in the ‘central south’ district.

He described the site as ‘super large’. It is believed the site covers an area as large as three football fields – six times the size of the Protestant church’s current home in Jurong West Street 91, which it owns."

I think it’s great that City Harvest Church has finally got its land. Last year, New Creation Church also obtained a piece of land in One North at Buona Vista.

With the changing of times, we see once again Church buildings and Church congregations being an integral part of society, and being a "Gathering Point" for the local population.

In America, churches like Lakewood Church pastored by Joel Osteen, worships in a 16,000 seater hall, which used to house the Houston Rockets. The Largest Church in the World: Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea,  has a 11,000 seater hall which it built decades ago. Looks like Singapore is just "Catching up with the times".

Many people have been asking for more details about the City Harvest Church Building, but unfortunately no details are available at the moment. The church has an agreement of non-disclosure with its developers till first week of March. So if u heard anything else more than what’s mentioned in the newspapers, they are pure RUMORS!

Stay tuned for the REAL STUFF in 7 weeks’ time!

We have been praying for this camp, and we believe that it’s going to be a powerful camp, with many encounters with the Holy Spirit.

We are looking forward to it…

Check out the trailer done by Joshua Below”

This week, he has just written an article about Fasting, and I think it is a great post that lists out the benefits of Fasting!

I believe that this is the secret behind City Harvest Church, just prayer and fasting!

Pastor Kong Hee even ends off the blog article by giving simple practical tips on how to fast. This is a great article for all Christians to check out!

Read it here!

Harvest Times is a free online Christian Publication, so you can check out the magazine and it’s past issues on this link.

The 4 page feature (page 68-71) highlights past blog posts covered in the children’s lives and covers some of the best stories I blogged about in the last 2 years. (Yes! it has been about 2 years since the blog started…how time flies!)

Personally, I enjoyed reading the articles, as it was like a review of my life as a parent, and I have even forgotten about some of their adventures.

Being a Daddy Blogger, it has truly been a real blessing being part of the children’s lives, and having an opportunity to record their experiences.

I don’t really know how this Parenting Adventure will unravel itself, but I am pretty sure that I will enjoy every part of this Daddy Parenting Adventure.

We left after attending the Saturday 330pm service at City Harvest Church, and from there, we made our way across the causeway via the 2nd link.

As many of us are 1st generation Christians, this was going to be our 1st Christian Retreat! We were excited and yet ready to meet God and make many new friends.

To facilitate the event, we played a lot of team building games, so that we can get to know each other better.

Team building games would not be complete if we did not go outdoors…and we had Tele-matches and Water Bombs in the outdoor field as well.

And what Christian Retreat would be complete, unless there is the preaching of God’s word and ministry time as well. God showed up for us, and this made the Christian Retreat very memorable.

We had a tremendous time, and all of us enjoyed the retreat.

We made many new friends and many of us met God!

As we packed our bags, many of us were already talking about the next retreat in 2010.

Check out the photo montage I made of the event as well! Hope you guys like it! (Do wait a while for the video to load, as Vimeo is getting slow…)

Parenting Advice:

What made the trip enjoyable for the parents was that we arranged for help to look after the kids. Without them around, we would not have the liberty to participate in the events. A big thumbs up to the Children’s Church helpers!

Expounding on the effects of fame and why people value it, this program presents a sociological look at people and fame.

The program interviews celebrities like Kumar, Diana Ser, David Gan and others…

If you have not watched the program, you can click on the video below to catch the excerpts.

The 20th Anniversary Services for City Harvest Church was a real blast!

As anticipated, the queues started at 430am, and by the time the doors were opened at 8am, there was a long queue “snaking” around the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

It was a time of celebration, as all of us gathered with our families to remember God’s goodness over our lives.

With my dad next to me, I also had to privilege to pray for his baptism in the Holy Spirit, as we prayed through the 1st Prayer Service. It was definitely a real honour!

Hearing testimonies from the founding members, it was really touching to see how God has prospered the pioneers of the church – where ITE graduates became CEOs and IT managers.

Lillian Cher’s testimony about how Pastor Kong cycled to her house to give her $20 when she was broke, was especially memorable!

It was of great significance, as Lillian was my 1st CGL, and a pleasure to watch how God has prospered her business and moved her into a Multi-Million Dollar house in the east.

The next 20 years promises to be one of greater adventure, and I thank God for bringing me here!

When I came back from Perth, Australia…I wanted to go back down under…but through CHC, I found a greater purpose!

This is the place where I found my calling, my family and my friends.

So apt, considering when National Day is just round the corner…

….This is home truly….Where I know I must be…Where my dreams wait for me!