The members of City Harvest Dialect Church took a trip down memory lane during their recent Oldies Concert held in July.
Contributed By Caroline Chng
On July 25, more than 788 elderly folk were treated to an enjoyable concert in the air-conditioned comfort of City Harvest Church’s Jurong West main auditorium as the Oldies’ Concert kicked off on a high note with Aaron Kwok’s “Loving You Forever.”
With an impressive line-up of 11 oldies which included Danny Chan’s “I Just Love You,” Ouyang Fei Fei’s “Passionate Desert” and Alan Tam’s “Friends,” the elderly were immediately transported back in time as they listened, sang and swayed to these evergreen melodies. On stage, the area was decked out in gold and silver, accompanied by fluorescent glow sticks and shimmering multicolored streamers—a sight that added a festive cheer to the event.
With the music striking a tender cord in the hearts of the elderly who were present, ministry volunteer, Joyce Tan, 31, shared, “Music is a universal language that is shared by all, regardless of age. Singing the oldies is one way that we can relate to the elderly, allowing us to be relevant to their culture and establishing a connection with them.”
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| CN PHOTOS: Michael Chan |
Throughout the service, everyone was all smiles as they reminisced the good old days. According to Maria Tok, the Dialect Church’s zone supervisor, “This is the second time that we are organizing the Oldies Concert; the first one was way back in 2000. This is really an opportunity for us to invite our dialect-speaking relatives and friends to the concert because listening and reminiscing the good old days can be a very heartwarming experience.”
Tok preached an encouraging message entitled “Don’t Stay Defeated.” She exhorted the congregation to rise above the past and present circumstances and to look to God. Sometimes, negative childhood memories, bad habits and wrong choices in life can cause someone to remain stuck in a particular situation and never move on in life. As such, they remain defeated for much of their lives.
“God wants us to stop staying defeated and give our lives fully to Him!” Tok proclaimed. This simple message touched many of the elderly as they were moved by the abundance of God’s grace and His all-encompassing love for them.
One of the leaders in the Dialect Church, Veronica Tan, invited both her brother and father to the concert. Together with the rest of the family, they were all deeply touched by the concert and at the end of the service, Tan’s brother gave his heart to Jesus.
