The City Harvest Church Aircrew Fellowship celebrated Christmas with love and joy.
Contributed by Celest Foo
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| PHOTO COURTESY OF CELEST FOO |
On Dec. 14, 2010, the Singapore International Airlines Group Sports Club was abuzz with excitement as the City Harvest Aircrew Fellowship held their annual Christmas party for a group of cabin crew, ex-crew, and pilots. The event also attracted SIA cabin crew trainees and their trainers from the SIA Training Centre next door.
The vision of the Aircrew Fellowship is to encourage Christian aircrew to have a deeper walk with God and also to form meaningful friendships with one another. Through the fellowship, members also have the opportunity to be released into ministry to serve God and serve people.
The event was a successful one and saw a record-breaking attendance of 72 people, of which, 33 were first time visitors. More than just the celebration and feasting, members were excited to share the love of Christ and the true meaning of the season to the friends who came.
After warming up the crowd with some ice-breakers, the participants quickly got into the joyous mood of Christmas by singing Christmas carols. What followed was a heartfelt rendition of the David Meece song, “We Are The Reason” led by Celest Foo and Amanda Siew as scenes from the movie, The Passion Of The Christ, played in the background.
Thereafter, four other aircrew members came on stage to share how God had changed their lives. These personal testimonies were in line with the Christmas message, which was titled, The Gift of Christmas. Susan Dunn—wife of CHC’s executive pastor Derek Dunn—oversees the fellowship and preached the Christmas sermon that day. Dunn spoke about how Jesus came to earth to bring love, hope, peace and joy to all mankind.
Koyie Wong shared how she put God first in the midst of hectic preparations for her wedding, even reaching out to a friend who was in need, and how God blessed her with a smooth and wonderful wedding—as well as a brand new flat!
Shanti Athmalingam, who was previously a nominal Christian, decided to commit herself to God and CHC. Blessings and the favor of God began to pour into her life. She was ranked among the top one percent of all the SIA crew in 2010. Her photo was also featured in the SIA calendars and she was involved in several high-profile SIA photo shoots. The highlight of 2010 for Athmalingam was when she was promoted to leading stewardess.
Jennifer Haw shared about how she grew up in a family where money, not love, was regarded as the key to happiness. Haw went through many broken relationships in her youth. But the day she received Christ in her heart, the peace of God came in her life and today, even her sister is also a believer and there is greater love among the family.
Cedric Ong found the strength and courage to pursue his dream to become a pilot. Today, Ong is not only a pilot for Silkair, he even found his life partner in church and both are happily serving God in CHC today.
With these stories in mind, Dunn wrapped up her message and led the group in singing the familiar Christmas refrains of “O Holy Night.” As the song came to a close, Dunn prayed a prayer of blessing for everyone. After that, Vivienne Leaw serenaded the crowd with a moving performance of “Greensleeves” and “Come Holy Spirit” on her harp.
The night would not have been complete without a time of fellowship and food. The participants were treated to a buffet spread and the mood was cheery and relaxed as members and friends mingled and new friendships were formed. Very soon, cameras and phones were whipped out as the people began to take photos with one another, capturing the special moments of a truly memorable evening.
For more information on the Aircrew Fellowship, please email francislim@chc.org.sg.
