After a two-year hiatus, Harvest Kidz resumed its outreach services to children from underprivileged households. On the recent Mother’s Day weekend, they celebrated with games, prayers and a reminder for the children to appreciate their mothers.
Saturdays in Suntec Singapore feel alive again because Harvest Kidz’s outreach services have returned.
Since Harvest Kidz was founded back in 1996, the teachers have been busing children to its services from all corners of Singapore. Modelled after the Inner City bussing programme in New York City by Pastor Bill Wilson’s Metro Ministries, Harvest Kidz has been reaching out to underprivileged children in far flung housing estates across Singapore for the last 26 years. The ministry currently runs two types of services: conducting support services at Level 6, Suntec City for the children of church members who are concurrently attending the main services at City Harvest Church, and outreach services to children from across Singapore.
But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, all Harvest Kidz services came to a sudden halt. Since then, the children’s ministry had been facing many challenges due to the lack of face-to-face interaction.
“To adhere to COVID-19 restrictions, we had to come up with new ways to reach out to the kids,” shares Pastor Eileen Toh, who oversees Harvest Kidz.
REACHING OUT TO THE KIDS DURING COVID
By the grace of God, the Harvest Kidz team dreamed up ways to reach out to children by uploading Bible lessons on YouTube, mailing out gifts and prizes, and checking in on them regularly through phone calls. This way, Harvest Kidz was able to connect with the children remotely and continue to make an impact on their spiritual lives.
When the government started easing the COVID-19 restrictions in 2021, Harvest Kidz took the first step towards normalcy by resuming its support services for the English and Chinese services. That gave the children whose parents are CHC attendees a chance to attend services in person at Suntec again. This step to resuming outreach service was momentous because children could finally come back to the house of God. Given the limited spaces, those who could not attend the on-site services could still participate online via Zoom.
But since the nationwide easing of safety management measures starting 26 April this year, church life at City Harvest Church is well on its way to resuming in full, with hybrid capabilities for those who are, for some reason, unable to join the services in person.
“We are very happy to resume our outreach services,” Pastor Eileen commented. “These services are for groups of children from underprivileged families whose parents are non-believers, who are not involved in church activities. We are very thankful to God that we were now able to conduct praise and worship and Bible lessons on location at Suntec, which is essential for children to grow to adopt the heart of the church. Our hybrid service allows three-quarters of our children to be with us on-site while the rest joins us on Zoom.”
Pastor Eileen shared that Harvest Kidz had received numerous positive comments from both parents and children since their return to church on April 23. “Parents told us that their kids were very happy to be back in the house of God. Some were so touched that at the end of each service they would come to the front for altar call with tears in their eyes. They are happy not just to see their friends, but also to receive the Word of God,” she said.
She hopes to see more and more children return to the church to attend service regularly so they can continue to grow in their spiritual walk with God.
A VERY SPECIAL MOTHER’S DAY
The atmosphere in Hall 606 was cheery and welcoming on 7 May. Children were seated on the edge of their seats, bursting with anticipation while waiting for service to commence.
That service was special because it was the Mother’s Day weekend. The team had specially planned games related to mothers for the special occasion. To kickstart the service, the children were tasked to express their love for their mothers by penning words of appreciation. Some were then selected to go on stage to share their heartfelt messages. Ripples of “aww” reverberated throughout the hall as the young ones read their messages. Many of them walked away with prizes such as blenders and hairdryers for their mothers.
A host of Mother’s Day themed games followed, and the children, split into three teams, participated with enthusiasm. The first game was something mommies do all the time—fold clothes! The participants on stage had to race against time to fold a messy pile of clothes and stack them up neatly on the table. The fast-paced game got everyone’s adrenaline pumping as they cheered enthusiastically to support their team.
The next game, “Laundry Mania” was an intense match where mother and child duos from each team had to work together to “hang” paper clothes on a laundry line using clothes pegs. The fastest duo won.
As Pastor Eileen Toh, Pastor Lynn Tan and Teacher Connie Yong made their way on stage for the final game, resounding claps and cheers erupted from the crowd. They gave the children a mission to find heart-shaped stickers on their seats to show “love power’ to their teachers on stage. Each teacher was holding a big plastic board on which the children could stick their stickers on. These plastic boards represented the hearts of the mothers present in the hall. The aim was to fill them up with all the “love” the children can find to wish them a Happy Mother’s Day.
In a matter of seconds, the hall was sent into a frenzy and nearly every child was on their feet. Wild excitement filled the entire hall as the children scrambled to find more hearts. The game segment ended on a high and the children were all pumped up to praise and worship God.
LEARNING TO GUARD THEIR LITTLE HEARTS
The Bible lesson time started with Teacher Connie explaining Proverbs 23:7, which reads “As a man thinks, so is he.” She taught the children that their thoughts dictate their actions and determine the kind of person they will become. As the children sat up and listened attentively, they were encouraged to adopt the right mindset, to think as Jesus thinks. By using the analogy of an apple from a tree, Teacher Connie demonstrated that a tree is known by its fruit. Similarly, what people store in their hearts will always translate into words and actions. Hence, the children must read the Bible daily and store the Word of God in their hearts.
In the next segment, Teacher Johann Sim used the Bible story of Moses, Caleb and Joshua to illustrate the rewards of believing in God. In this story, Moses sent the leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel to scout the land of Canaan. When they returned, Caleb and Joshua gave a good report on the land. However, the other spies came back with contradicting reports claiming there were many enemies. Caleb and Joshua stood firm in their faith and believed that God would grant them victory over the enemies in the land. In the end, God only allowed Joshua and Caleb into the Promised Land because of their faith. Teacher Johann reminded the children that the greatest motivation is love—they must love themselves and others because God loves them.
Pastor Eileen then came back on stage to share a touching story about a Primary Five boy who reached out to her after his mother passed away. While many children celebrate Mother’s Day with much joy and fanfare, the pastor reminded the children that some children may not have their mothers by their side. Pastor comforted them and assured them that God loves them unconditionally. She then urged the children to appreciate their mothers on this special occasion and to honour their parents regardless of circumstances.
As the service drew to an end, Pastor Eileen gave an altar call to those who needed prayer. Parents and children were both invited to respond. As the children made their way and crowded the front of the stage, all the teachers came forward to pray for them. It was a sight to behold and there were many teary eyes as God’s love and presence filled the hall.
When the service ended, the children exited the hall in high spirits. Each of them also brought home a box of sweet macaroons for their mothers.
