Glordia Goh, an assistant pastor from CHC, led a team to India to serve needy children and the sick there.
Contributed By Dr. Andrea Lau and Emily Tan
India’s Ministry of Tourism slogan is “Incredible India.” India truly turned out to be incredible in many ways for a City Harvest Church mission team of seven when they made a trip to Delhi, Agra and Bangalore from Dec. 6 to 16, to conduct events for children and provide medical aid. The team was led by Glordia Goh, an assistant pastor from City Harvest Children’s Church, and included church members Paul Chong, Terence Koh, Faith Aw, Alathia Soon, Emily Tan and Dr. Andrea Lau.
NEW DELHI
On the first day, the team conducted seminars for the key pastors of Good News Centre, New Delhi, pastured by Daniel Kumar. The team taught the participants how to run a successful children’s church, and conducted a CHC-styled children’s church service to end off the teaching sessions, demonstrating how to engage the children in games, praise and worship, the sermon and the altar call. The participants came away blessed and better equipped to reach out to children from both Christian and non-Christian families.
Goh, together with Soon and medical doctor Lau, also conducted a seminar titled “Ensuring Successful Home Cell Groups”, employing CHC teaching materials and Powerpoint slides. Attendees were also introduced to the Caring System used in CHC, which is to “find a need and meet it; to find a hurt and heal it.” Again, the team employed the use of a mock cell group meeting demonstration to press home the teaching.
The Children’s Church team share stories from the Bible with the children in Agra.
AGRA
On the second day, the team traveled to Agra, in Uda Pradesh, five hours outside New Delhi to the Good News Centre at Agra, pastured by Kumar’s sister, Charlotte and her husband, Richard. The couple had started a children’s ministry in a slum area about a month before.
Working hand in hand with volunteers from GNC, the team gathered about 139 children and seated them in the small compound belonging to one of the church members. A small platform was raised as a stage where the mission team conducted a Children’s Church service. The young ones were engaged by the skit, games and the reading of a Bible, as well as praise and worship. About 40 children responded to the altar call to invite Jesus into their hearts, with Goh leading them in prayer. The children each left happily with a brand new T-shirt and curry puffs.
Charlotte and her church members were heartened and touched as they witnessed firsthand, the way to conduct a successful children’s meeting in a slum area. That night, Goh shared an encouraging message from the Word of God, ministering to members of the church. The altar call that followed saw 12 members respond to serve as volunteers for their Children’s Church ministry.
The team brought cheer to the children of the special needs school in Bangalore.
Upon their return to Delhi, the mission team was invited to the annual Children’s Festival organized by the Delhi churches. The festival saw close to 1,050 children both from slum areas and well-to-do families.
The team stayed in an orphanage run by GNC, and there, they interacted with the children at the orphanage who were delighted to prepare meals and take care of the visitors. Team member Aw, an art teacher by profession, taught the children handicrafts such as screen-painting, earring-making and balloon-sculpting, so that they can raise funds through the sales of these items.
The team members also ministered at the various worship services of GNC. Chong shared a message on being “Led by the Holy Spirit” as well as “Strengthening the Relationship Between Husband and Wife.” Lau preached on “The Authority of the Believer” and God’s healing power, and Goh shared a powerful message on “Having the Faith of God.”
THE MEDICAL CAMP
Part of the mission trip involved the team working at a medical camp in the Kirby Slums in Delhi, home to a population of 20,000. Lau, a medical doctor by profession, divided the group into four teams: the medicine dispensing team—Goh and Aw—and the hygiene education team, comprising Tan and Soon. The hygiene education team taught basic hand-washing, showering, teeth-brushing, nail-clipping and water-boiling methods to the crowd of slum patients who attended the Medical Camp. There was the medical consultation team of one—Lau—and finally, the prayer team—Chong and Koh—who prayed for all the patients at the camp. Toothbrushes, toothpaste, antiseptic soap and nail-clippers were also given to all the households.
The Medical Camp was initiated by the mission team to connect with the people living in the slum areas. This resonated with GNC members who had been trying many ways to reach out to the people, such as starting a school for the children. The Medical Camp served to let the residents know that the local church cared for them.
A little boy from the Bangalore school thrilled by his balloon crown. PHOTOS COURTESY OF CITY HARVEST CHURCH.
Working with the Peniel Church in Bangalore, the CHC team conducted outreach events at two public schools to teach the pupils about self-awareness. It was a first for these students, who explored values such as self-confidence, self-love and self-awareness, and taught in a myriad of activities including songs, games, lessons and stories.
A meaningful evangelistic outreach was held at a school for the handicapped and people with special needs. The team shared the love and joy of Jesus Christ to the 98 children present, unfazed by manpower constraints. At the end of the outreach, 66 children responded to the altar call.
MUCH MORE TO DO
“We would love to go back,” says Goh. “There’s a lot to do; people need the Lord. This time we met many of their immediate needs. Next trip, we have plans to go to other areas, such as Bombay.”
