Twelve adults from City Harvest Church traveled to the Philippines to share the Word of God.
Contributed By GJ Gonzales
The local church members were blessed by the ministry of the mission team. PHOTO: JOSEPH YEW
It has been more than 10 years since the last City Harvest Church mission team stepped foot onto Philippine soil. In mid-July, four years following the launch of the Filipino Ministry in 2007, a group of Filipinos in CHC teamed up for a week-long mission trip led by Jimmy Sng, an assistant pastor in CHC who heads the church’s Filipino Ministry.
During the trip, they visited four municipalities in the 1,701-island Philippine archipelago and administered back-to-back leadership training sessions, prayer meetings and midweek services at various locations.
Local pastors who partnered with the team first knew about CHC through friends who are members of this thriving congregation in Singapore. Eventually, the Asia Conference in 2008 opened the gateway for them to actually experience what they had been watching and hearing about from afar. “We believe in the impartation of wisdom and anointing. What we see is what we get,” commented Jeffrey De Leon, 30, a pastor from Christ Cares City Church.
Engraved in their spirit were messages on the Cultural Mandate and since then, they have seen their church members engaging society even more for God’s glory. “Now they have the burden to grow the church and to excel in every ministry they belong in,” commented Jun Oliveros, 42, senior pastor of Christ Cares City Church.
The first leg of the journey was to the southern part of Luzon province, at a community church in Albay, near the famed Mayon Volcano. Jhun Calipay, 44, a pastor of Harvest In Christ International Ministry and his members engaged the CHC team in a training series on leadership, ministry of helps and held several question-and-answer sessions for 60 church pastors and leaders.
Back in Manila, the seven-man team was welcomed by a network of churches and their ministry leaders, numbering 158 individuals, for another day of teachings on the spirit of excellence, ministry and church leadership. The whole-day event included a three-hour road trip to Pampanga the following day, together with four other CHC Filipino Service members who joined the group halfway, at Jesus The Eternal Word Christian Church where 135 pastors and leaders awaited the team.
Many of those who came to the meetings were young adults actively serving in church. “I pray that God will stir and raise a new generation in the Philippines like He did in Singapore—in CHC back in 1989,” remarked Ng Kian Hoe, 35, an educator.
A strong hunger for God’s presence was evident in the meetings. Speaking about one experience in Quezon City, Joseph Yew, 42, a freelance interior designer, recalled, “When it was ministry time, the people were not hesitant at all to move to the front to be ministered to. They were down on their knees and I could see tears flowing down their cheeks.”
The last stint in the itinerary was a joint leadership seminar with Christ Cares City Church and Dwelling Place Global City Church in Novaliches. It concluded with a weekend service similar to that of a Filipino service in CHC Singapore, having all the familiar faces serving in music team, chorus board, sound, usher and children’s church ministry.
It brought Christine Lim, 34, a senior financial adviser, great joy to be part of this venture, “I will continue to support the Filipino ministry so that we can equip more Filipinos to go back and reach out to their nation.”
“We are imperfect people serving a perfect God for His perfect purpose,” said Helen Poh, a finance manager, reflecting on the trip. “Personally, I think God is telling me that He is not looking for talents but for a willing heart. And He is able to make a willing person able.”
In eight days, a total of 800 leaders, lay ministers and individuals were ministered at the different meetings conducted by the CHC team.
