Like a baby born, City Harvest Church United States turned 40 weeks at the turn of the new year.
PHOTOS: Eric Soo.
It has been nine months since City Harvest Church in Orange County, USA, held its first service. Senior pastor Derek Dunn told City News that the church, like a full-term baby, was ready to be “officially birthed” in December 2013.
“Like in any pregnancy, nine months of waiting will result in a birthing forth,” he said, “For us, this is significant as after nine months, we entered into a new year, and we know that 2014 will be a year of open doors and great breakthroughs for the church and our members.”
Dunn and his wife Susan feels that they now have a clearer vision of what God wants to do in the United States. “We feel a renewed sense of destiny that God has called America to come back to her discipleship-making roots and to embrace sound doctrine and the moving of the Holy Spirit once again. The Church is God’s plan for revival. We believe that CHC’s model of ministry is lacking in America and that God wants to see strong local churches raised up. As we continue to keep this focus, we believe that we will experience revival and that CHC US will be a sending church that will plant other churches here in the US.”
As it happened, that special 40th weekend fell on Dec. 29, 2013, the church’s year-end service. CHC’s senior pastor Kong Hee and his wife Sun Ho were present in Orange County to minister. It was their third visit in a year, bringing support and a word to the young church.
“They (CHC US) were meeting in a small theater and Pastor Derek was very nervous thinking that people won’t come because it’s Christmas,” Kong shared with CHC’s leaders at a meeting on Jan. 7. “But when we reached there, there were so many people. Many were Asians from our church—there were practically three rows of Singaporeans, all there to help.”
Teresa Tan, a financial services manager told City News, “It was my first time attending service at CHC US. There was a very strong presence of God; strong preaching of the Word, vibrant praise and worship–it definitely had CHC DNA! I could feel the love and dedication Pastor Derek and Susan have for the people. They are certainly doing a great and mighty work in this land.”
Lim Shiyun, a financial services consultant was moved by the atmosphere of love in the church. “CHC US is a melting pot of different races and cultures with an environment that embraces each individual as God has uniquely made them to be. The genuine love from the congregation sets itself apart from a culture of individualism. The strong spiritual atmosphere and solid teaching of the word refreshed souls, renewed minds and equipped the congregation to pursue their dreams. This is God’s house.”
The Dunns say they are “thankful to God for the people that He has brought into the church since our launch in March 2013. We literally started from ground zero and now we have a core team of members who take care of various aspects of the church service and ministry.”
Dunn shares that at CHC US, they share the same vision and purpose as CHC in Singapore. “It remains the same: to build a church with a strong spiritual atmosphere that empowers the members through the Word and Spirit and to make disciples and release them to excel into their respective arenas, to shine as salt and light. Our mission is to ‘raise up fervent disciples of Christ who love God, love people and love life!’”
A NEW BIRTH
Kong revealed to the Singapore leaders that CHC US held their first Emerge Youth Conference a few weeks ago, and the baby church had the privilege of renowned Christian band The Planetshakers offer their help at the Conference. The band even paid their own way. Not surprisingly, many people came to the church that weekend.
CHC US currently averages 85 members at its weekend services. Members attend Connect Group meetings in the week. The church is scheduled to launch more Connect Groups and Bible study lessons in February.
The church also offers a structured program for children. “We believe that Children’s Church is a very important part of a church. Our Children’s Church is segmented by age groups, and the children’s church workers and volunteers teach and engage the children based on their age group. We are looking to further expand the quality of our Children’s ministry this year and are praying for the resources to do so,” says Dunn.
If you are travelling to Southern California and would like to visit CHC US, Sunday services are held at:
Edwards Theatre University Town Center 6
4245 Campus Drive
Irvine, California 92612
