My Church, My Life

26th Jun: Pst Kong Hee was arrested with 4 others from City Harvest Church.

27th Jun: Friends & family began questioning me about this man & aired their views.

Early morning of 28th Jun: I couldn’t sleep. This man kept appearing in my mind. Yesterday someone commented, “Look to the Word & God, & not worship this man.” Do I worship this man? No, I am very certain I worship God. But I love this man enough to call him my spiritual father. We cannot choose our family, but in this aspect, I can & had made my choice 15 years ago. At age 16, I had chosen City Harvest Church to be my family, & Pst Kong Hee to be my spiritual father. This will still be my choice today. There’s this Chinese saying, “Once a father, always a father.” I am honored to have this man to guide my faith & walk alongside with me the past 15 years.

You may ask what has this man done to deserve all my unwavering support? Am I crazy? Am I illogical? I don’t even know him personally! In fact, he is just a man standing at the pulpit every week preaching. Yet, this man changed my life. It took a lot from me before I penned down this article about my life because they were very personal & private experiences. But in comparison to what he & the church had done for me, this small voice pales in comparison.

 

My dad was in his final stage of his life during the crucial months leading up to my “A” levels examinations & eventually passed away in the midst of my papers. I was all prepared to give up on my studies, but Pst Kong’s teachings about “building an excellence for God & that His grace is more than sufficient for us” helped me to press on to my family’s pride of me graduating with a bachelor degree from NUS. My church family hovered around me rendering support & encouragements during those difficult moments. My cell group leader then, Pst Aries (who is now Executive Pastor of CHC & was discipled by Pst Kong personally), took on a father’s role to a fatherless. He watched over my studies & volunteered to pay for my tuition fees. There were countless times he cried & grief together with me – just like how a father would. I had not known of any other man who had raise up countless of such leaders who impacted lives.

Pst Aries officiating my wedding.

In my early twenties, I went through a period of traumatic relationship. My ex-boyfriend went off with another girl 1 year into our relationship. Stupidly & naively, I continued our relationship. 1 year later, he was arrested with molestation for not just 1, but 5 girls. Even more stupidly this time, I still hang on to him. Half a yr later, I was called to meet a few Pastors in the church & they told me my ex-boyfriend was spotted by another church member in a nightclub that the father of the church member owns. He was lying on one of the night hostess’ laps. Would I have continued to stupidly forgive him? Most probably.

But that day, I will never forget how Pst Tan Ye Peng (one of the Pastors being arrested) said this sentence very seriously & sternly to me, “If you are my daughter, I will not let you be with such a man.” I could still remember vividly his entire facial expressions & body posture as if etched into my memory. A simple sentence but was a full glimpse of a father’s love for me. I called my ex-boyfriend the same day & broke off our relationship.

That day, I knew love – a greater love expressed by God through His people. If not for him, I would not have been happily married today to a wonderful hubby & having 2 gorgeous girls. Had I known Pst Tan too prior to that meeting? No, I do not, but he cared enough for a stranger to speak into my life. That half an hour he had spent counseling me changed my life. That short meeting was enough time for me to know that every word he had spoken was not just out of duty, but of genuine love & concern.

So no matter what the media or news had reported, I will still continue to choose to love these men. I am where I am today because these men had love enough to invest in me & my life. Do you know what went through my life? Have you stood by me during those moments? Some of my dear friends & family members had the privilege to, but these men, strangers as they were, cared for me enough to be deserved to be called my family today. They stood by me during my toughest moments in life. Why should I walk out of them now.

These men built a church, & this church built many lives. A family was created through them, & a family stays together. My church, my life.