Senior pastor of City Harvest Church, Kong Hee and his wife, Sun Ho, visited New Life Church Taipei in July and witnessed the fruits of their labor, which began nearly a decade ago.
Contributed by New Life Church Taipei
Ho and Kong (second and third from left) with Ku and his wife. PHOTO COURTESY OF NEW LIFE CHURCH.
The church services in New Life Church Taipei on July 9 and 10 saw Taiwan celebrities Liu Genghong, Chen Weiquan, well-known DJ and TV host, Wu Jianheng, along with international record music producer, Chen Ailing, coming on stage to share their testimonies, paying tribute to the ministry of City Harvest Church’s senior pastor, Kong Hee and his wife, Sun Ho.
Each shared how their lives had been impacted because of the crossover project that Ho has been involved in since 2001—in which she held pop concerts that brought the love of God to her audiences. The project inspired these celebrities to shine for God in the entertainment industry, to be unafraid of engaging the world with their talents, and to spread the love of Christ to others through a good testimony,
Through consistent discipleship from their pastors Abraham Ku and other pastors, these individuals started to identify with the vision of NLC of building a church without walls. Over time, all became cell leaders and zone supervisors-in-training, and are now touching other in entertainment.
Because of Kong’s message on the Cultural Mandate and Ho’s example of how to live it, NLC began to understand the influence of pop culture and its ability to impact lives on a larger scale than regular weekly evangelistic efforts at church. The NLC leadership and its members saw how the gospel could be preached in a relevant and non-threatening way.
The years following, Kong returned to Taiwan frequently to challenge the churches there to engage the entertainment industry with the love of God and to help celebrities find salvation in Jesus Christ. He also challenged other Christians to excel at their schools and workplaces, and to engage people in whatever sphere of influence they had.
As a result of this, the seeds that were sown nearly eight years ago began to bear fruit. Today, NLC now has more than 200 individuals from the entertainment industry who not only attend church, but are committed to the house of God.
At service that weekend, Kong shared two messages with NLC’s congregation: Moving Up Another Level, and God’s Glory, encouraging the congregation to stay strong in the face of adversity.
Citing the Gospel of John, Kong drew from the instance when Jesus healed the blind man, how He demonstrated the miracle power of God that led to the glory of God being manifested to all. Kong reiterated how Christians need to recognize that sicknesses are from Satan, but God will use sicknesses to manifest His glory.
In another session, Kong spoke about Abraham and Sarah and how this couple attracted God’s attention and led to miracles in their lives. Abraham was 99 years old yet his unusual zeal and offering pleased God and led Him to move in his life and family in a miraculous way. His wife Sarah, who was initially barren, had a personal encounter with God and eventually conceived a son. This was explained in Hebrews 11:11 which says that, “By faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who has promised.”
Kong ended the service by exhorting the Taiwanese congregation to be like Abraham and Sarah.
“Everyone will come to the valley of their life. But don’t just wait passively when a miracle is needed, do something out of the ordinary to attract the attention of God.”
~ Translated by Dawn Seow
For the original article in Chinese, go to www.newlife.org.tw
