In October, City Harvest Church’s senior pastor Kong Hee and his wife Sun Ho traveled to Orange County in California, USA to preach at CHC’s affiliate church CHC USA (Orange County). Ho talks to City News about the church there and about CHC’s call to the nations.
PHOTOS: Kong Hee
You recently went with Pastor Kong to LA and preached at CHC Orange County. How often do you go there?
If our schedule permits, Kong and I would like to visit CHC
Orange County on a quarterly basis. Pastor Derek Dunn has extended an invitation for Kong to minister in his church on December 29. As such, we will be making another trip to Los Angeles to encourage them over the Christmas/New Year weekend.
During this recent trip, what did Pastor and you do at the church?
Kong preached in the Sunday service, and I sat among the congregation to pray and help build the spiritual atmosphere of the church service. After the service, we fellowshiped with the church members and newcomers, and encouraged them to be assimilated into our baby church. Besides that, Kong and I spent quality time with Derek and (his wife) Susan on a private basis to discuss pastoral ministry matters. It was really a precious time of discipleship and vision sharing for us.
What were your personal feelings about the church? What left the strongest impression on you?
I felt that Derek and Susan have been pastoring the church very well. The strongest impression left on Kong and I is that although the church has only officially had their first service on March 31 this year, that did not deter the presence and the power of God from moving in their midst! We could feel that the members of CHC OC being passionate for Jesus. They are open to the Holy Spirit, much like their senior pastor Derek Dunn. We felt very much at home when we were ministering in CHC OC!
What message did Pastor preach?
During the very first trip June 9 this year, Kong was there to officially install Derek and Susan as the senior pastors of CHC OC. On that visit he preached on the “Power of Revelation”, and encouraged them to boldly go after their God-given vision and dream. During our last trip on October 20, Kong preached on the “Power of Focus”. He reminded the people of the importance of focusing on intercession, revelation and positive faith actions.
How was it received by the congregation?
The Word of God was very well-received by the congregation. Some itinerant ministers who came to listen to Kong said that the sermon was God’s rhema to them at this season of their lives. The illustrations shared by Kong in his sermon gave the people a renewed mind-set that it is possible to succeed in life and fulfill their divine assignment. Kong reminded them that “success is not hocus pocus. It is all about focus!” We will get what we focus on.
Was there ministry time?
There was a time of corporate prayer at the end for those who wanted to realign their focus back to God again. We also prayed for some individual members after the service. Other than ministering in CHC OC, Kong and I also had dinner with the leadership of Lionsgate the next night. Lionsgate is our Bible school in the US. We took the opportunity while we were there in LA to bond with the leaders of Lionsgate.
On the whole how do you and Pastor feel about CHC Orange County? What is good, what can be improved?
Kong and I are very happy with the progress of the church. We are very assured that the members are in good hands. We feel that given time, under the capable leadership of Derek and Susan, CHC OC will grow to be a positive and powerful influence for the kingdom of God in Orange County. We can sense that the members are excited for Jesus. It shows in the exuberant praise and worship during the service. For a baby church, they are really doing well, and will continue to mature in every ministry department. Ultimately, Kong and I want to see CHC OC grow, not only in numbers, but also in spiritual depth in God, His Word and His purpose.
Is this what you imagined starting CHC in the US would be like? What are your dreams for CHC OC?
For Kong and I, we know that our calling is to impact our generation through the planting of strong, growing churches. We have always dreamed of starting City Harvest churches in the West. When Derek and Susan shared that the time has come for them to uproot themselves from Singapore to return to the US, we were sad to see them go but we were also excited in our spirits. Derek and Susan are one of the most spiritual couples we know in the ministry. Kong and I know that both of them will be successful in starting churches in the US. CHC OC is just the beginning of greater things to come. Our prayer for CHC OC is that it will grow to become a blessing in Orange County, and a seed bed for future church-planting efforts in the US.
Pastor mentioned another US church under the CHC umbrella. Tell us about it.
The new church will be primarily for the Chinese-American community. We have not decided on the exact location but one of our Bible school graduates is praying and planning to spearhead this new church-planting effort sometime in 2014.
Did God give Pastor and you a word about CHC reaching souls throughout the world?
Absolutely! Kong started out as a missionary and church-planter. God gave Kong a word in 1989: “Kong, through this new church you are birthing, you will raise up missionaries for the whole world!” Looking back at the past 24 years as a church, we are just so humbled and amazed at what God has done, and is continuing to do in among us.
Despite the many challenges we face, God is using CHC to influence and change nations all over the world. Kong and I were so blessed watching the CHC Missions Update Video (on the weekend of Nov. 2-3). Twenty-four years ago, we could never have imagined that CHC Singapore will grow from one local church to its current CHC family of 48 affiliate churches in Asia, Australia and America! Indeed God’s promises never fail. As Genesis 11:6 says, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” As long as we remain united as a family, there is nothing that we cannot do. The CHC family will keep winning the lost for Christ and discipling the nations.
