A flame is ignited in Johor Bahru as City Harvest Church starts an outreach group with 20 students hungry and passionate to see revival in Malaysia.

Can one man’s passion make a difference in his campus? Yes, I believe so. Back in 2005, one student from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Johor Bahru visited City Harvest Church (CHC) Singapore and was tremendously moved by what he saw and experienced in the service. After the meeting, he approached one of the pastors to pray for him and specifically asked if CHC could send someone to give Bible Study to a group of his friends from the university’s Christian Fellowship.

So in September 2005, Pastor Tan Chee Kiang, a youth pastor in CHC, answered the call for help and traveled across the causeway to pour his life into this group of students. After several sessions, talks were soon on the way to start a more permanent outreach fellowship so that more people could hear the gospel.

This group of students aged between 18 to 22 years old, study different majors in the university and have a common desire to expand their influence all over the campus. Their commitment to God and to His word is evidently displayed as they attend Bible study classes weekly with a pastor from CHC. In addition, these students also travel all the way to the eastern part of Singapore to attend CHC’s weekend services.

Over time, this group started to grow and City Harvest Outreach Johor Bahru was officially birthed forth on July 13, 2006. With this new development, the members need not travel for the weekend services in Singapore since they now have their own fellowship. From 20 young people at the start, their first official meeting saw a of 43 people who gathered eagerly at a small room in the campus.

BUILDING A STRONG LOCAL BASE

Today, City Harvest Outreach Johor Bahru has moved to a hotel, Vista Melati with a capacity of 130. The crowd now sees an average of 120 members for its weekly services. During their Easter service this year, the fellowship witnessed an amazing breakthrough in their attendance when they filled up three services with an all-time record of 600 people! Forty people also responded to the altar call and surrendered or rededicated their lives afresh to the Lord.

What keeps the church growing is the presence of God which has undoubtedly drawn in the crowds, resulting in a constant influx of souls. The pioneering members remain dedicated in soul-winning; adopting practical methods in order to reach out more effectively to their friends and families. At the same time, the fellowship is also intent on building a strong foundation in the Word of God. Presently, eight of the outreach leaders are attending City Harvest Bible Training Center so they can be better equipped for more effective ministry.

One of the more significant moves that this fellowship has made is to reach out to other high schools and colleges in the city. They also organize programs and events as a tool for outreach and to draw in the crowds. Thus far, they have conducted activities like the university orientation day, public speaking workshops, leadership camps and a beauty pageant-cum-fashion show during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

These events also serve to ensure the fellowship’s consistent focus on getting souls saved and making disciples for Jesus. Much emphasis is placed on helping the members to grow in their spiritual life and teaching them the ways of God. One of the main aims of the fellowship is to involve as many locals as possible in sharing the vision of reaching the city with the love of God. So through all the different events, garnering as much support as they can from their fellow countrymen enables the group to create a strong and powerful platform for even greater ministry to occur.

In the words of Dev Menon who helps to head the fellowship as one of the Cell Group Leaders, he states, “We want to expand to every border of society, to see different levels of students and young professionals coming in to influence the city. We want to be a trendsetter in changing the city’s culture as we imitate the way City Harvest Church runs. And as the growth comes in, we see ourselves moving to a new place in the next two to three years.”

With this vision in mind, City Harvest Outreach Johor Bahru is definitely poised to see even greater revival coming to their city. HT