Two zones in City Harvest Church organized special meetings to strengthen the men under their pastoral care.
Contributed By Christopher Ow
Andreas Skogvard charged the men in his zone to excel in life. CN PHOTO: Gary Sim.
Born in Dallas, Texas, USA, the late Ed Cole was the founder of the Christian Men’s Network, a religious organization comprising a movement of pastors and leaders dedicated to training men to develop their roles as servant-leaders in their families, church and culture. Based on the direction of the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 2:2, the essence of the entire movement is summarized in one phrase, “Manhood and Christlikeness are synonymous.” The ministry has expanded since its roots in the 1980s and has trained over 86,000 leaders in 138 nations.
It comes as no surprise that City Harvest Church is committed to the message of the CMN. Grounded in its beliefs that strong churches make strong communities and strong communities make strong nations, CHC believes in training men to accept responsibilities through righteous leadership, embody strength and stability within the family, in the marketplace and throughout nations.
Running with this vision, both the SK and YK Zones of CHC each delivered power-packed sessions in July and August. Themed “How To Be Able Men,” the men of the SK zone under Andreas Skogvard, a zone supervisor, were challenged to be representatives of Jesus Christ as cell group leaders, in their workplaces and the community. In all, about 170 men attended these meetings and were tremendously blessed and empowered by the messages they heard.
Skogvard described three roles of an able man: he is a provider, he is a protector, and he is a representative. To symbolize the unity of one’s visions and dreams, each man had to formulate a personal visual representation and express it as a drawing on paper. Many were encouraged and built up through the session and stronger friendships were indeed forged.
The men in the YK Zone learned about the essentials of being godly men. PHOTO: Kelvin Loh.
Shane Chiang, 39, a senior manager, spoke to the men in the YK Zone, under the pastoral oversight of Goh Yock Kiang, a district pastor. Chiang summarized the essentials of godly men in five biblical characteristics; humility, faithfulness, honesty, patience, selflessness, and the 5Cs; compassion, conviction, cooperation, commitment, courage. Having been with CHC since its inception, Chiang shared his life testimony of his conversion and conviction to be a strong leader in his family, career, cell group and now, to the Men’s Ministry in YK zone.
A word of caution was given regarding the practicality of a “Man-made” decision; that men have to stand up for important decisions in life lest they fall into the trap of unprecedented outcomes. One example would be the men in government who could have prevented Adolf Hitler from rising in power during World War II. In addition to this, Chiang also discussed the practical aspects of family, financial management and skill development in a man’s life.
