In November 2004, the charter class of City Harvest Church's (CHC) first Pastors' Course graduated in a grand ceremony held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium during the church's Celebration by the Bay event. The graduating class of 2004 consisted of 185 pastors and full-time church workers.

The Pastors' Course is a joint effort undertaken by City Harvest Church and Word of Life, Sweden, and students completing the program receive a certificate co-issued by City Harvest Bible Training Center, Singapore, and Livets Ord University, Sweden. The course offers a program catered specifically for full-time ministers in the kingdom of God. In light of the fact that such individuals are typically extremely busy with their pastoral duties at their own local churches, the course was designed to only require students to take two weeks off each month for lessons. During these two weeks, students from countries all over the Asian region travel to Singapore for an intensive time of lectures and practical ministry. In this way, the pastors and church workers who enroll in the course need not leave their own churches for a full year of study.

The course covers a wide range of subjects and practical knowledge that are beneficial in the building of strong local churches and leaders. As such, students graduate with a host of useful practical knowledge and an abundance of spiritual edification. Lecturers for the course hail from the Word of Life network of churches worldwide and they come with a wealth of experience and knowledge to impart to the eager students.

Harvest Times caught up with two of its graduates to find out how they have become better equipped as workers in God's kingdom since attending this course. Both are active ministry workers at their respective churches. Lian Choon Wah (LCW) is an elder in Canning Garden Baptist Church in Ipoh, Malaysia, and he is currently into his ninth year in full-time ministry. Rhesa Narola Sigarlaki (RNS) hails from Jakarta, Indonesia, and has been serving as a youth pastor for the past two years at Gekari Kapernaum Church.

How has this course changed your life and ministry?

LCW: One area that has really blessed me is the lifestyle of the lecturers in this course. Not only are they experienced and anointed Bible teachers, they are truly ministers of God. Their knowledge and personal testimonies are a tremendous source of encouragement to me ... there is a strong spiritual impartation each time a different lecturer comes to teach.

RNS: The lecturers have also impacted me a lot. They do not come just to teach, but are always ready to impart and share what they themselves have experienced in their lives with God.

What were some challenges you faced when you first started this course?

LCW: At first, the course was structured for us to come to Singapore for 11 days and that only included one weekend. So after our last class on a Friday, I would travel back to Ipoh for the weekend. Then two weeks later, I'd come back in time for class on Tuesday. But I slowly realized that there was a need for me to stay on and learn more about practical ministry from CHC. As such, I decided to stay for two weekends in Singapore each trip and only returned to my church after the second weekend was over. This meant that I had to make certain arrangements for others to take over some of my duties until I returned home from Singapore.

RNS: As I am only into my second year of pastoring the growing youth ministry in my church, I really had to trust God to take care of the people while I was studying in Singapore. I was worried about leaving my members each month, but everything worked out fine.

How did your church and family members support you through your quest to complete the Pastors' Course?

LCW: My whole church supported me and even sponsored my stint in the entire eight-month's training program. I am the only pastor from my church to attend the Pastors' Course. My church paid for my course fees, two-way transportation costs and accommodation needs. I have a very caring wife who encouraged me through the entire process. Even my young children (two daughters aged 15 and 13, and a son aged 11) were also very supportive. I'm proud to say that all three of them are actively serving in the youth ministry in my home church.

RNS: Both my church and family firmly supported my decision to attend the Pastors' Course. Similarly, my church also sponsored me for this course.

Can you share with us some of the most important topics you studied during the Pastors' Course and why?

LCW: My first choice would be Theology followed by Church History and Humanities. In studying Theology, I grasped the great importance of knowing biblically-based theology ... only when we have proper scriptural theology can we build a strong church!

For Church History and Humanities, it opened my eyes to issues such as the development of man, how things of the past affect our thinking today and how things that happen around the world today actually have a direct link to the past. There is really a need to know the truth in such matters because the Bible says that the truth will set us free. This subject alone helped me to look at things happening in the world through a new perspective.

RNS: Personally, I found the topic on Old Testament Survey extremely interesting because I gained a deeper insight into Old Testament passages. After going though this topic, I understood the Old Testament's relation to the New Testament much clearer and developed a greater love and appreciation for the Old Testament. Another one of the most practical lessons I received was the lecture on Hermeneutics (Interpreting the Bible). It has really helped me to prepare better messages to preach in my church. The workshops conducted by CHC on Wednesday evenings are also very useful. We get to experience firsthand how a church is efficiently mobilized in all the various aspects of church ministry.